How to be Happy
by haipa-chan
Summary: Gaara was looking for a chance at redemption. To reconcile with his village and become more than a monster. Isakso was looking for someone to save her. Both find more than they were looking for. GaaraOC GaaraXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, new story! It always so exciting. So think of this chapter as a pilot chapter. Let me know what you think!**

**I hope you enjoy. Based on how the reviews go i'll try to have the next chapter out soon ^_^.**

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Chapter One

It had been three day since the Chunin Exams and since the failed attack on Konoha. Subaku no Gaara sat in a stark white hospital room with Termari at his bedside. Having been in better shape upon arrival, she had been discharged along with Kankruo after a brief check over. Gaara however, had arrived with complete chakra depletion, severely torn chakra pathways, several broken bones, and not to mention, a gaping hole in his shoulder, courtesy of Uchiha Sasuke. After a very nervous doctor had healed his shoulder, uncomfortable under the stoic 16 year old's cold gaze, he had been prescribed bed rest and all hospital staff had thereafter ignored him. Although ignored would not be the right word. Doctors and nurses would rush by the door, fearfully glancing in the window of the room trying to catch a glimpse of the monster within, but scared of the consequences. They most likely thought that if he caught them staring he would kill them. It was not a far leap for the average Suna citizen's imagination to make, seeing as the boy in the bed had killed numerous people just for looking at him the wrong way.

Temari had come alone to check on him today since Kankuro was out on a mission. Why she was checking up on him, Temari had no idea. Being in the same room as her homicidal young brother still made her uneasy. But none of the nurses were paying him any mind, and he had been in bad condition, so the oldest Subaku took on the responsibility she would rather not have.

Since the death of the Kakzekage, Suna had been in chaos. Neighboring countries had decided to take advantage of the confusion and attack Suna's borders, making it necessary to deploy all forces in defense. Missions were given out left and right, no shinobi fit for duty was allowed down time. Temari herself had just arrived back from a mission that morning, and was scheduled to leave again in an hour or so. Almost all medical ninja had been deployed to the field as well, leaving only a small number to tend to the growing number of wounded arriving at the hospital. Meaning that the available medics spared no time to treat the one they all considered a monster.

"I'm sure it'll be just a few more days," Temari said irritably. "I don't know what their waiting for anyways, it's not like they're doing much to treat you." Realizing she had spoken out loud she glanced at Gaara nervously, almost sure the sound of her voice would set him off. He was staring passively at the wall. It was strange to say that he had been almost subdued since they had left Konhoha, and it was honestly putting Temari on edge.

The attitudes of the medics infuriated her though. Sure she understood that almost nobody was brave enough to be in a room with Gaara, let alone an injured Gaara, but still. This was ridiculous, she wanted to leave damnit! And as far as she could tell Gaara wasn't getting any closer to leaving by them moving at a snail's pace.

Even though Gaara had been in the hospital for a few days, he didn't seem to mind. Which was odd, in a creepy, set your teeth on edge sort of way. When they first brought him in she had been half expecting him to kill anyone who came near him, or leave promptly. But he had cooperated, didn't even glare at anyone.

"He hasn't even glared at me since the chunnin exams," She thought. Gaara certainly had been acting strange since the exams, or a strange as Gaara could be. It had started with him apologizing to her and Kankuro after his fight with the Uzumaki kid. Temari was sure she almost had a heart attack at his statement. It was weird, and Kankuro clearly shared her sentiment, judging by the confused look he had sent her over the top of their prone brother's head.

Kankuro claimed it was just because Gaara 'didn't have the energy', whatever that meant. She scoffed internally.

Despite the past infractions between her and her brother, and the village for that matter, Termari couldn't help but hope Gaara's new subdued personality was here to stay.

"Where are those damn medics?" She muttered looking towards the door. She had called them like an hour ago hoping to get someone to shed some light on Gaara's hospital situation.

Gaara meanwhile shifted his gaze out the window overlooking the village.

Temari sighed, wondering what he could possibly be thinking.

Truthfully Gaara was thinking along the same lines as Temari, about his new attitude. Since the chunnin exams and his fight with Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara didn't feel the same. Since hearing of Naruto's bond and witnessing his strength, Gaara couldn't help the desire that grew within him. The desire to change, to form bonds, and to feel what it was like to fight for someone; to protect someone. It was a feeling he vaguely remembered wanting during his childhood, before he had decided to protect only himself, and live only for the death and destruction of all the rest.

When he had apologized to his siblings he could feel their shoulders holding his weight and bearing him to safety. He felt as if these two people were the ones whom it would be easiest to form bonds with. He didn't know where to start. He could feel Temari's eyes on him and ignored the strong urge to glare at her and intimidate her. He didn't like people staring at him. The stares usually only held hatred or fear.

As Temari sat by his bed with her arms crossed under her breast, foot tapping impatiently, Gaara contemplated conversation. He wondered if words between him and his sister would ever flow as smoothly between them as they did her and Kankuro. Although smooth maybe wasn't the right word given how often the two would get into screaming matches over trivial matters.

Gaara felt the urge to sigh, and continued staring out the window, giving no sign that he had heard his sister speak.

"Gaara," Temari said hesitantly, "are you feeling any better?"

"hn" Despite the fact that she had asked a question she still tensed slightly when he made the uncommunicative noise.

Taking that as an initiative to continue with a little more confidence "Well I bet you would feel a lot better if those goddamn medics would just do their jobs" She said pointedly. Feeling uncomfortable she quickly made an excuse, "I'm gonna go find one of those lazy ass's and give them a piece of my mind." She stated, finally rising out of her chair and strolling briskly towards the door.

Gaara almost felt sorry for whichever medic his sister decided to let loose on. He'd seen her rage at Kankuro and had developed a healthy level of fear for his older sister. Though she never directed her sisterly rage towards him due to the unhealthy amount of fear she had for him.

Just as Temari was reaching for the door it burst open, and if not for her shinobi reflexes would have broken her nose. Three nurses and a doctor rushed into the room all surrounding a stretcher upon which lay an emancipated young girl.

Temari backed towards Gaara's bed to give them more room, curiosity about the proceedings overshadowing her previous intentions. The doctors worked furiously over the girl, yelling orders to the nurses while their hand were aglow with green healing chakra.

"Get me that syringe!"

"Scaple!"

"We need more sedative in here!"

There was a lot of blood, even as the medics closed numerous wounds the larger gaping ones were still leaking the red life fluid, rapidly depleting the nameless girl's chances of survival. An oxygen mask was placed over her face as her lungs stuttered, too weak to function on their own.

The nurses and doctors worked seemingly unaware of just who was in the room, too caught up on their work to care. It was a good thing too, seeing as many of them would freeze like prey under the gaze of a predator, and neglect the poor girl on the stretcher.

The boy they were all afraid of had turned curiously towards the commotion as well. He could smell the blood from his side of the room, and it nearly overwhelmed him. Shukaku was in his head howling and tearing at his restrains, trying to get closer to the tantalizing aroma, to spill more of the sweet red nectar that made them feel so alive. Gaara clutched his head as a sharp ripping sensation tore through it. He fought for control over the beast not giving in to his wishes as he had so many times before. He did not want to kill this girl, or add to the growing pool of blood with that of the doctors as the demon was telling him too.

His ever present sand flexed and writhed as if some sort of animal rudely awakened. It twitched in the direction of the oblivious doctors and nurses. Grimacing Gaara tried calling it back, but it was torn between his will and the will of the demon within.

Termari turned abruptly towards her brother, all too aware of what was going on. Gaara was losing control; it was the same grimace she had seen many times. Those times usually leading to someone's death. She gulped loudly before gathering her courage and shinobi training.

"Gaara, Gaara, its ok, please calm down." she said, almost frantically, as her hands fluttered in the air around her brother's form, afraid to touch him lest she set him off on a rampage. Her muscles were tense ready to spring away if necessary.

Vaguely Gaara heard his sisters attempt to calm him and focused on that. She was concerned and if he gave in to the blood lust she would most likely get killed as well. With stifling self-control he forced himself to breathe through his mouth. It was only a little better than breathing though his nose, although not so overwhelming, he could taste the blood saturated air instead of smell it. It helped though, and in a few minutes Gaara had regained control over his sand and his breathing.

"Temari." he said shortly, halting her fluttering hands.

She leaned over "Are you ok?"

"hn" she took that as a sort of yes. She let out a sigh of relief, that could have been bad. But Gaara had controlled himself. She looked down on him in puzzlement. Why would he do that? He had never tried to control himself before, killing whenever the urge struck.

Glancing in the direction of the commotion, she was surprised to see that the girl had been bandaged and connected to all the standard machines in the short while she had been occupied with Gaara.

Addressing the only doctor left in the room she asked loudly "Why is she in here?"

The doctor, who apparently just remembered what room he was in, straightened up coldly, "That is not public information." he stated.

"Fine, but what I was asking is why is she in the same room as Gaara?" He should have his own room given how unstable he was, plus being the late Kazekage's children warranted having their own hospital rooms when necessary.

"With our current situation there are not enough rooms to go around. Plus from what I hear she may be a possibly liability, and therefor kept under careful watch along with it" he said, eying Gaara pointedly.

Gaara did not respond in any way, instead he stared emotionlessly out the window, still recuperating from his internal bout with Shukaku. He of course heard the contempt in the man's voice and felt the pointed look. He also felt his sand stir as his desire to make this man suffer rose slightly. That however was deemed unnecessary by Temari whose chakra had flared considerably at the man's comment.

"Get Out," she stated, threateningly as the man visibly paled under the flare of her chakra.

"Yes Temari-san." he said bending at the waist in a stiff bow, before all but running from the room.

Anger still simmering Temari turned towards Gaara, "I'm gonna go get this sorted out," she said to him before heading towards the door muttering under her breath, "goddamn idiots, gonna go kill them myself."

Gaara watched his sister go before turning his eyes to the young girl in the bed next to his. She looked around his age, slim, with numerous bruises covering her body, along with many lengths of sterile white bandages. Her light blond hair had been choppily cut off by the medics as they had to heal the numerous wounds to her head. He vaguely wondered what had happened to her. She had obviously been attacked, but she did not look like a kunoichi, her muscles were lacking the hard edge to them that accompanied female ninja. She had obviously been beaten and cut, for what purpose he did not know, perhaps captured by enemies running amuck at Suna's borders since the Kazakage's death.

Deciding he really didn't care too much, Gaara returned to his most common past time, staring out the window as the sun lazily set over the horizon.

Temari returned a short while later, frustratingly informing him that the 'dumb ass doctors' as she deemed them, would not remove the girl because of a direct order for her to be watched. They obviously thought that the best place to watch her was in the same vicinity of someone they already had under close ANBU surveillance.

Temari left after a while hesitantly saying that she would stop in again.

After she had left Gaara allowed himself a moment of satisfaction that came with knowing his sister would be coming back to check up on him. Neither of his sibling had done that before, preferring to keep their distance.

Nothing had changed except for Gaara's apology, but maybe that was the first step to forming bonds with these people that were no longer lumps of flesh in his eyes.

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**Thanks for taking the time to read! Let me know what you think. It can only get better with constructive comment/criticisms.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! Chapter two! Man i am just cranking out these chapters.**

**Too many ideas swirling around inside my head and if i don't write em down fast enough they might drive me crazy!**

**So i hope you enjoy, review, fangirl, or do whatever your heart desires.**

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Chapter Two

_It hurt. She didn't want to remember why it hurt, but the memories came to her unconscious mind unbidden. She had been running, her lungs gasping for oxygen as she pushed her body harder, knowing what would happen if she slowed. She remembered clearly the pain shooting up the back of her leg before she crumpled to the ground. Something had hit her. She looked around, and saw that it had been a fist sized rock. Gasping in pain, she tried to stand but her now injured leg would not hold her weight and she fell back to the ground. Realizing that they would be on her in seconds, she opened her mouth and let out a blast of air the ripped through the night, surprising herself and her attackers as a large hand smashed over her face cutting off the sound._

_Gasping for air in a void of complete black she remembered her horrifying experience. What they had done to her. The hands over her mouth muffling her screams. Except here in the void her screams rang like a siren enveloping her in the sound, in the hope that someone would hear her, and save her._

Gaara jerked his head abruptly towards the sound of the screaming that had interrupted his deep contemplation. It wasn't as if Gaara was unused to screaming, having dragged the sound out of many people, it was simply unexpected and his sand jerked on reflex. It was around three in the morning and the girl on the other side of the room was no longer lying immobile. She was screaming and thrashing as if trying to escape the confines of her bed, as if the sheets themselves were trying to kill her.

He judged her convulsing form for a moment, considering her thrashing limbs and high pitched screams. He felt the urge to still her limbs with his sand and choke off her voice with its crushing force. He felt the need to see her blood spill onto the irritatingly white sheets.

Gripping his head to control not only his urges but those of his demon, Gaara used a tendril of sand to jab the button on the wall meant to call medics, before he could change his mind.

Within minutes a medic was in the room and quickly converged on the girl in an attempt to wake her. As soon as his hand, charged with green healing chakra, touched her, the girls eyes shoot open. The medic found himself on the floor in the blink of an eye; the unnamed girl had lashed out at him abruptly, kicking him away from her.

As soon as her eyes opened she knew that this man had not come to save her, he was going to hurt her some more. Instinct kicked in and her leg lashed out, getting the offending male away from her as quickly as possible. Panic constricted her throat as she looked at him. She didn't see a medic she saw a monster, coming towards her with every intention to make her suffer.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she cried rolling out of the other side of the bed as far away from the man as she could.

Gaara watched as the girl stumbled towards his side of the room, unaware of his presence.

The medic got to his feet and rushed towards the door "We need sedative in here!" he yelled into the hallway. He then attempted to approach the girl who shrank back further towards the window.

She couldn't breathe, her lungs gasping for air as they had when she was running from the men. She didn't know where she was. She felt her leg bump against something and ignoring the shooting pain grabbed the chair and hurled it at the oncoming man. Using the time granted by the distraction she glanced behind her and saw an open window.

She made her decision quickly, they weren't going to get her again, and she would rather escape or die.

The young man in the bed watched as the girl dashed towards the window, fear coming off her body in thick tangible waves. "She's going to jump" he realized, they were on the fifth floor, and with her obviously not being a shinobi, would not survive the fall in her condition.

Hands gripping the sill, she didn't need to prepare herself, fear drove her, drowning out any rational thought except that it was not happening again at any cost. She got her feet onto the sill under her and pulled herself so she was standing on the narrow ledge, looking out over the village.

She closed her eyes and jumped.

Into a wall of sand.

The medic pulled up short, aghast in horror at the sight of the golden red sand that suddenly rose up to stop the girl. He stood, staring in shock and fear as the sand threw the girl back into the room and onto the floor roughly, knocking her unconscious once more.

As he was paralyzed by fear two nurses rushed in, one holding a syringe and the other looking around frantically. Both stopped at the sight before them.

Gaara honestly didn't know why he did it. If she wanted to jump from the window he should have let her, she would have made a nice splatter of red on the hard street below. But he had thrust up his sand, halting her mid leap, and instead of wrapping it around her with brutal force; he had thrown her back into the room roughly.

The nurses and doctor had quickly gotten her back into bed, sedating her and locking the window securely along with the door. Gaara didn't miss or care about the looks they had sent him while going about doing this. They could look at him in disdain and fear as longs as they wished but all they would see is his impassive face, not betraying the slightest clue as to why he would save the girl.

When she opened her eyes again it was bright, unbearably bright, like the horribly florescent light given off by hospital bulbs.

"ugh" she groaned in a terrible attempt to annunciation her feelings about the offending light source.

The sedative was still sluggishly making its way through her system and left her mind and body slow. She felt as if the world was tipping slightly as she pushed herself into a sitting position. The plain sterile room before her was out of focus. Clutching her head and screwing her eyes closed she willed away the nausea, waiting a few minutes for the feelings of vertigo to abate and the world to steady.

After a while she attempted to open her eyes again. The light wasn't nearly as blinding as it had been, and she observed her surroundings, the sedative making her mind foggy. There was an IV hooked to her arm and she was sitting in a bed with crisp white sheets. The room was bare except for a window to her right and a few chairs along the outer edge of the room and by the bed.

"I'm in a hospital" she realized numbly, not really connecting the dots as to why she was there.

Hearing a rustling sound, her head slowly turned to the right, finally seeing the boy in the adjacent bed that her eyes had skimmed over in her initial observation. What struck her most was his shock of red hair; it stuck up at many different angles, that seemed untamed and wild, yet completely under control. If she wasn't so drugged up it would have seemed hilarious. Then she noticed the piercing green eyes locked onto her, glaring at her really. She started into them dumbly for a few moments before blinking.

She knew who this was, who the hell could have hair that red and eyes so distinctive? Plus, he had a giant tattoo in his forehead. She recognized this boy but couldn't put her drugged up finger on exactly who he was.

"Who are you?" she asked in a rough garbled voice. She felt stupid for asking, but her mind was not cooperating.

Gaara leveled the young woman with a deeper glare. How could she not know who he was? Judging from the complexion of her skin and other general features, he deduced that she was indeed from Suna. And anyone from Suna surely knew who he was.

All she got for an answer was an emotionless glare.

Huffing in frustration she lowered her body back into a laying position having just realized how hard it was to sit up and how sore her body was. Unconsciously she remembered what had happened and feeling much calmer, due to the drugs, she realized she had been rescued.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes at the thought. Pressing her palms to her eyes she cried, she was safe, it was over. She had thought that she was going to die when they were done with her. She vaguely recalled waking briefly in that alleyway, wishing for death, only to pass out again. The tears flowed as she recalled the horrible ache she had felt. The ache for death.

Gaara watched the girl start crying. "Weak," he thought dismissively. The weak deserved to die. He narrowed his eye at the thought; he was trying not to think that way anymore.

After a while, one of the ever busy nurses came to check on the girl and was surprised to see her awake.

"Oh! You're up!" She exclaimed, "How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened? You were found in an alley on the eastern side of the village with extensive damage to your body."

The girl numbly nodded her head, not wanting to think about it.

"Good, no memory loss. A member of interrogation will be by later to question you about what happened." the brunette woman mumbled scribbling something down onto her chart. "Now, do you remember your name? There was no identification when you were brought in."

"M-Mori...Isakso" she mumbled, as if remembering her name was a stretch.

"Any immediate family we should notify?" the medic asked.

"No." There was no one, Isakso remembered, they were all dead. Her mother, her sister, and her father, all killed at separate times in her life, but dead all the same.

The nurse to a few seconds to scribble more down on her chart. "Well, Isakso-san, get some rest and we will bring some food in later after a closer examination. I'm sure you hungry right? "

Isakso frowned slightly, she wasn't hungry in the slightest, she actually still felt nauseous.

The nurse noticed. "Don't worry it'll pass and you'll be hungry later."

The nurse left, leaving Isakso alone, with the strange red haired boy and her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! This is a good one, trust me. Here you get to actually find out what happened to our dear Isakso-chan.**

**You also get to see some, hopefully not to ooc, bonding between her and our fave raccoon kid.**

**BTW: i dont know if i clarified this well enough but Gaara and Isakso are both 16. I changed his age based solely on the fact that you can't exactly have an awesome in depth romance between 13 year olds.**

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Chapter Three

_She, remembered, she had defiantly been attacked, by several men. They had been from Suna, not enemy ninja looking for information. Just some disgusting drunks who got angry when she rejected them._

_Isakso was walking home from work. She worked at a small dango shop in the middle of town. Business had been slow ever since the news of the Kazekage's death. Which was expected, people didn't want to go out and have fun and spend money when tragedy had just struck their village. There was also the constant threat of attack from enemy villages making people more wary of traveling far from their homes._

_Civilians had been assigned a curfew due to recent events and it was being imposed in about a half hour. She'd have to hustle if she was going to make it back to her small apartment on the shadier side of town. That unfortunately, meant cutting through the bar district which she normally avoided._

_She shuffled her feet, reluctant to go through there. The men coming out of the bars always cat called her in the most crude ways, it was quite annoying and made her very uncomfortable._

_"Well gotta go either way" she thought dismally._

_As Isakso made her way past the first couple bars she gained more confidence. There seemed to not be many people here tonight, probably due to the curfew in a few minutes. Her relief and confidence was short lived however when four guys stumbled out of the bar, obviously wasted._

_"Ara, Ara! There were no girls here tonight! How boring" one exclaimed._

_"Ha, they were all avoiding your ugly mug!" another retorted causing the other two to howl with laughter while the man who had been insulted glowered._

_Somehow one of them spotted her, surprising since she was trying so hard to blend into the background as she made her way past them. But, seeing as she was the only other person on the street it was to much to hope for._

_"Damn if only I was a ninja!" she cursed internally._

_"Hey baby, where you going? Home? Wanna take us with ya?"One man slurred drunkenly as he made is way over to her, the others trailing behind enthusiastically._

_Isakso continued on her way giving no sign that she had heard him, while internally chanting, Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking. Like a kind of mantra._

_They caught up to her, surrounding her like predators while keeping pace with her. They kept propositioning her, getting louder and cruder as she continued to try and ignore them. What she had always figured was, if you ignore them long enough they get bored and leave._

_Suddenly one of the men grabbed her wrist and yanked her into his body. "You should come back to my place, we can play doctor." he laughed._

_Isakso cringed away as his breath wafted across her face, nearly gagging at the smell._

_"No thank you. I have to get home, my family is waiting for me," she lied. Of course there was no one waiting for her, but hopefully if these men thought that there was they would be less inclined to bother her._

_"Aw you're a big girl, they should let you stay out later," he said trying to wind his arm around her waist._

_Isakso stepped back abruptly, feeling fear rise in her throat._

_"I have to go, sorry." she turned trying to leave but found the path blocked by two of the men._

_"You ain't goin anywhere sweetheart."_

_She hesitated slightly before pushing her way past the drunks. She set a brisk pace away from them, hoping that they wouldn't try and follow her. Luck was not with her. She could hear them stumbling after her._

_"God, they're going to follow me home!" she panicked, imagining all the horrible things that could happen. There was no one around, the streets were deserted. Curfew must have already gone into effect._

_As soon as she could, Isakso turned a corner and ran._

Gaara looked over at the girl in the bed next to his. It was night time and most of the hospital staff had gone home. He thought back to the conversation between the girl and the member from interrogation.

Although uneducated in the area, Gaara could put together what had happened. It hadn't been enemy ninja, but people from their own village. After realizing what had happened to the young woman, he wondered why he even felt the need to change when everyone in this village was obviously trash. It was disgusting, worse than murder. The young psychopath had never expressed any interest in that area, only lusting after screams and blood. But something told him that he would never stoop that low. People who did that didn't deserve to exist.

He didn't know why he was getting so angry about something that happened to a girl he didn't even know. Why he would feel incredible urges to murder the people responsible for her pain. From what he could see she was just a weak civilian, couldn't take care of herself.

"Weak" the shukaku whispered in his mind.

He should just kill her himself, to validate his existence, that he was stronger and deserved to live.

Gaara looked over at the girl again, she was awake. She was awake and looking at him.

"I remember who you are." she stated bluntly.

For a moment Gaara was confused. She claimed to remember who he was but still showed now fear, just like before, when she had no idea he was a monster.

"Then you should be afraid." Gaara stated, to set her on the right path. His dangerous eyes narrowed at her. He knew she was just like the rest of the villagers. She was probably just hiding her fear to get something to manipulate.

It wasn't that she was no longer afraid of him; Isakso just couldn't imagine anyone being scarier than the men who had hurt her. She knew that this boy in the bed next to her was the sand village's Subaku no Gaara, the rumored weapon, the murder that carelessly killed anyone who got in his way. As a child she had been told to stay away from him and like an obedient seven year old, she had listened.

The thought that he might kill he crossed her mind briefly. That scared her truthfully, but not as much as what happened. She had never heard of Gaara doing anything of the sort to anyone so her fear was lessened.

"My fear of what you could do to me, pales in comparison to what's already been done." she replied scrunching the eyes closed at the memory. She felt dirty talking about it, but he already knew, he had been in the room during her conversation with the official.

"I'm Isakso by the way" she introduced herself with a big smile to get her mind away from the horrible thoughts.

He felt like he was going to go blind, no one smiled at him like that. They scowled or grimaced in fear. This girl obviously didn't understand just who he was. Before he could even think of showing her just what he could do to her, or how scared she should be, the door to their shared room opened.

A male medic walked in closing and locking the door behind him. He was a good looking man in his mid-thirties and looked very professional and official. As soon as the door closed Gaara noticed the girl in the bed stiffened.

"Ah, Isakso-san, I was just coming to see how you're adjusting. I wasn't expecting you to be awake." His voice made her want to vomit, she knew that voice. It was sickening sweet and sugary, even the way he used her first name sounded dangerously false.

"You should come back to my place, we can play doctor." She shrank back into the bed as she remembered the voice, and all the other terrible things he had whispered to her during the assault.

The doctor approached the bed, and grabbed her wrist to feel her pulse. It was heightened. He sighed, "And I was hoping you wouldn't remember." his smile turned into a mocking smirk.

Isakso tried to jerk her hand away, but the doctor tightened his grip and pulled her closer.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you now. I can't have you running around this hospital ruining my reputation, now can I?" he whispered in her ear while running his hand up her arm.

She jerked away violently and broke his grip, rolling off the side of the bed for the second time during her stay. She picked up the closest thing she could find and chucked it at him while retreating against the wall. The object, which happened to be the T.V., remote caught him in the side of the jaw.

The doctor recovered quickly and advanced on the terrified young woman. After a brief struggle he had her pinned face first against the wall with her arms twisted behind her back. She was trapped, he was so much stronger than her. This man was a doctor working the late shift, no one else was in the vicinity. There was no one to come save her.

Isakso's eye flickered over towards the other occupant in the room, he was just out of her field of vision but she knew he was there. She didn't know what he was doing. Gaara was a murderer, for all she knew he could be enjoying the violent show. But he was her only hope.

Before the doctor could act Isakso let the air explode out of her lungs at a volume that surprised even her. He flinched back not expecting such a loud sound to come out of such a small girl.

She used that to her advantage and got out of his grasp once again, making for the door. Just as her hadn't was about to touch the handle she was tackled from behind, smacking her head against the door in the process of going down. As she lay there stunned the doctor turned her over, straddled her small hips, and pinned her arms down with his knees. He used his hand to cover her mouth not making the same mistake again.

"You know, you're a damn pain in my ass." he huffed, slightly out of breath. "But not for long. I'm going to kill you. No one will be the wiser; after all you're sharing a room with that monster. What did they expect to happen?" He pulled a scalpel from a pocket in his coat. "Unfortunately there's no time to play with you first."

Isakso struggled fiercely but could not dislodge his weight from her body. The scalpel glinted slightly as it swept a gracefully arch towards her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see her end heading towards her, but kept struggling hoping to disrupt the path of the scalpel if she could jar him slightly.

The pain she had been expecting never came, but the rush of blood did. Isakso slowly opened her eyes in confusion only to have something warm drip into one of them. She pressed her now free hand to her eye and it came away red. That's when she looked up and realized that the rush of blood dripping onto her belonged to the doctor who was suspended by the neck with a tendril of sand.

She slowly traced the path of sand back to its owner who had climbed out of bed, and was standing stoically as if doing nothing more casual than taking a stroll.

"Ugh...you...you won't get away this," At the sound of the doctors voice Isakso leapt to her feet to scurry behind her unlikely savior.

Gaara glanced at the terrified girl behind him, the girl who clutched the back of his shirt like a lifeline. He had just saved her from definite death. Her pathetic struggles had accomplished nothing, and the blade had just about pierced her neck when Gaara released his sand like a whip towards the unsuspecting villain. He couldn't explain why he had saved the young girl; he only knew that he had become very angry at this man. It was the same feeling he had gotten earlier when hearing Isakso tell the interrogator about her experience. It wasn't the usual anger he felt towards all the villagers when they looked at him with fear or contempt, it was anger on behalf of the seemingly helpless girl who had shared a room with him for a few days.

It felt good to cause harm to this man. Almost too good, intoxicating, creating the feeling of not being in control. The blood dripped from the doctor's mouth into the sand which eagerly soaked it up, creating a need for more. Gaara took a deep breath to rein himself in. He hadn't killed anyone in a while, and the excitement was going to his head and making his resolve waver.

"It'll be murder, they will hunt you down." the doctor stated boldly trying to scare his way out of the situation. Gaara was surprised the man could even talk. He was coughing up blood due to the pressure of the sand. Perhaps he should tighten it a bit more. The many gurgled out a scream in response. It was like music to Gaara's ears.

"No...they won't. Gaara...Gaara-san came to my defense. He saved me and I'll tell that to everyone." Her voice surprised him. It surprised herself.

Gaara glanced back at Isakso once again, and she gave him a small grateful smile. She smiled at him, again. Even said she would take his side against the word of this man. He didn't understand.

He turned his attention back towards the male slowly drowning in his own blood. He wouldn't get a chance to claim that the monster had gone crazy or turned on him. With a quick twist of his wrist Gaara had the man fully encased in his sand.

"Sand Coffin!" With a clenching of his fist the man was dead and his sand was soaking up the sweet red nectar. He felt an almost euphoric feeling come over him, reminding him why he enjoyed killing so much in the first place. It also soothed his anger, that man would not be walking the streets of Suna again. Underneath those feelings though Gaara felt, not regret, but a different feeling that told him he shouldn't have done that.

Isakso watched with detached emotions as Gaara ruthlessly killed the man in front of her. She slowly sank to the floor that was being stained red with stray droplets of blood. He was dead. He couldn't hurt her. She was alive. She let her head fall into her hands and for the second time she cried in front of Subaku no Gaara.

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**Good lord that turned out so much more agnsty than i wanted. I hope you guys didn't feel like i went overboard with how she was attacked. I however felt like it was more realistic.**

**Anywho, review tell me your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Gaara stood staring down at the young girl sleeping in the bed. Shortly after he had killed the man and her tears had all dried out she fell asleep, slumping towards the floor. His sand caught her and gently placed her back into her bed. He now stood motionless at the edge of her bed trying to sort out and understand her strange behavior.

Gaara was by no means an expert on human behavior, the only emotions and reactions he had seen usually involved anger and fear. The only person to ever show him compassion or understanding had been Uzumaki Naruto. He hadn't been expecting anyone to show him anything like that for a long time. That's why he had decided to work hard and change himself. But it seems that without even trying the universe had delivered into his lap someone who didn't look at him with contempt.

He didn't understand though, why had she defended him, chosen to take his side? Why had he saved her life?

His puzzled contemplation was interrupted by Temari entering the room. Gaara only looked up long enough to notice that it was already morning.

Temari stopped dead in her tracks. She had told Gaara she would stop by after her mission so she had dutifully stopped by the hospital on her way home. Truthfully all she wanted to do was skip this visit and go take a much needed shower, but she had promised Gaara. And she didn't want to mess up whatever kind of 'change my attitude' trip he was on.

She had been expecting to find Gaara sitting stoically in his bed staring at the window. That was not what she found. Instead she found Gaara standing by the bed of the sleeping girl Temari had forgotten existed, in a room with a dead doctor and the flood covered in blood.

She sighed internally, "Oh Kami, this is exactly what I wanted to deal with right after that shit mission!"

On the outside she just frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"Hn" replied her youngest brother who continued to stare at the prone form on the bed.

It was then that Temari noticed that the girl was covered in blood as well.

"Gaara. What did you do?" She asked again with more force. If he killed the girl and the doctor the council was going to have a field day.

"I didn't do anything." Gaara rasped irritably, finally looking at her. She almost flinched.

Gaara would have sighed if he had been the type. Instead of humoring Temari's incessant questions Gaara chose to walk over to the window and stare down at the street, ignoring his sister. He saw her barely concealed fear; she had seen the dead doctor. She was scared of him.

Temari walked over the prone body on the bed and checked for any signs of life. To her relief the girl was breathing and seemed to only have bruises as far as she could tell. After realizing that the girl was unharmed Temari decided answers were more important than sleep. As much as she didn't want to wake the girl she need information and Gaara was clearly not in the mood to talk.

"Hey, wake up!" she said, gruffly shaking the girl by the shoulder. when she didn't respond shook her a little harder and spoke a few decibels louder.

Finally the girl started to stir. When she finally regained consciousness she shot upright in the bed, startling Temari in the process. She was clearly terrified by the way she gasped and looked around the room. What wasn't clear to the fan wielder however was why the girl seemed to calm down when she spotted Gaara over by the window?

Deciding to put that aside for later Temari began with the most important question, "What the hell happened?"

The girl then spotted the dead body and shuddered.

Isakso cringed at the memory. It was still to fresh, still to terrifying. The only thoughts that stopped the nervous tremors was that the young man who had saved her was standing on the other side of the room, and that the man who assaulted her was dead on the floor.

She was still staring at the dead body when she was roughly grabbed by the shoulder. Isakso hissed in pain, her shoulder had taken a beating last night and protested to the abuse.

"What happened?!" Temari was losing her patience. There was a dead body on the floor, possibly put there by Gaara and the only person who would talk was this girl.

The young blond in the bed slowly recognized this fierce young woman as Temari, daughter of the late Kazekage and Gaara's sister. It was probably safe to talk to her.

"That...that man," she couldn't say it, "Gaara-sama saved me." she said instead.

That hit Temari like a barrage of kunai. Totally not what she had been expecting. "why?," she asked shortly, glancing over at her youngest brother who still stood like a statue.

"He...he was...he was one of them," she said, feeling a little out of breath from the effort of the statement.

Temari straightened to her full height. She could see that this girl was going to be difficult to get any lengthy answers from. But she had the crucial bit of information she wanted. Gaara hadn't killed that man for no reason. In fact he had done it for a reason so out of character it was almost hard to believe.

"Gaara, can I talk to you out in the hall?" she asked hesitantly. Luckily he complied with only a small glare.

Gaara followed his sister without complaint seeing as she didn't look like she would let this one go. Only a week ago he could have threatened her with death and she wouldn't of even looked twice at the dead doctor on the floor. This trying to form bond was troublesome.

As soon as Temari had closed the door behind them she turned toward her brother. "What happened? And I swear that's that last time I wanna ask that question so you better give me full details." She was not the least bit intimidated by her brother's glare. "Gaara if you don't tell me the council is going to have a field day with this."

The council. After the Kazekage's death and Gaara's return to Suna they had been determined to tighten the reins on him. They wanted to keep him under control and had been the ones to order that he stay in the hospital for such a long period of time.

"That man came into the room last night," he started to explain in a voice raspy from under use, "I believe he was one of the men who assaulted Isakso."

"That's her name?" question Temari with a raised eyebrow.

Gaara nodded shortly before resuming his story. "He tried to kill her, but I killed him first."

Gaara was about done with talking and Temari could tell that he wasn't going to say anymore.

An hour later ANBU had shown up to the scene and cleaned up the body. They had also talked to Isakso. True to what she had said the night before, she told the masked men that Gaara had saved her. At first they didn't believe her but she was a law abiding citizen of Suna who identified the dead man as one of her attackers. Luckily their hands were tied on the matter since she wholeheartedly defended the murderous red head.

After the Anbu had been disbursed and Isakso had been moved to another room a nurse came by and told her that after a cursory examination she could go home.

"Where is Gaara-sama?" She asked the nurse curiously.

The nurse gave Isakso a look full of contempt, "That monster is in the process of getting released as well." Isakso could clearly see what the woman thought of Gaara, and what she thought of her for association.

The examination was over quick, and thankfully done by a different nurse who seemed to not hold such an extreme opinions of Isakso. Since her original clothing had been in such bad condition she was given a standard issue hospital shirt and pants. As Isakso examined herself in the mirror she couldn't help but appreciate how baggy and unflattering they were. Nothing about the outfit called attention to her shapely form, and that was exactly what she wanted after the incident.

As she was walking up to the reception desk Isakso spotted a familiar shock of red hair.

"Gaara-sama!" she called out as she approached. When she was close enough she bowed lowly to the emotionless young man. As she straightened up she noticed that he was dressed in normal cloths and carried a large gourd on his back. It was an interesting sight to say the least.

Gaara had sensed her approach before she even called out his name. Temari had been filling out forms to get him released from the hospital when Gaara turned at the sound of his name. He of course noticed the many looks that turned his way when the girl called out. She on the other hand was oblivious.

Gaara nodded to her impassively as she bowed lowly to him and waited to see what she wanted. He couldn't imagine why she would be talking and smiling at him, instead of running the opposite direction. She should be afraid of him yet in the one conversation they had, told him that she wasn't afraid. That seemed to be consistent with her behavior now but he still didn't understand why.

"I just wanted to say thank you." she stated simply, smiling and looking him in the eye.

"Why?" Isakso tilted her head to the side in slight confusion.

"For...for saving my life. For killing a man for me." A few days ago she wouldn't have even thought that killing a man was an acceptable deed but here she stood thanking the most dangerous person in the village for doing just that.

"Hn, it was nothing." For Gaara, killing was easy, natural, felt good. That man had been nothing to him. But that wasn't the reason he was dead. Even Gaara himself didn't understand the implications of his actions or Isakso's words.

Temari on the other hand narrowed her eyes in contemplation. Unlike her brother she wasn't ignorant to human emotions or actions. Her brother had been acting strange, even stranger still when he apparently saved the life of this girl.

"Are you checking out?" Isakso turned startled by Temari's voice. She hadn't even noticed that the oldest Subaku sibling was there.

"Oh, um, yes." She cleared her throat nervously.

"Well good, so are we. We can walk out together." Termari left no room for argument or compromise. She wanted to talk to this young woman and get some answers and insight and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

As they waited for Isakso to fill out all her paper work Gaara, indifferent to his sisters offer of walking with the young woman, examined the object of his confusion. She was odd yet completely ordinary. Although Gaara wasn't well versed in the area he wouldn't mark her as a great beauty or even unusual looking. Her complexion was slightly tanned, as was normal in Suna, her short blond hair and hazel eyes, although more uncommon, were nothing to get excited about. It was her personality he concluded finally. This however was another subject he wasn't well educated in, other peoples personalities. Before the chunnin exams the only thing that interested him about other people was their blood.

"I'm all done!" exclaimed Isakso excited to finally be leaving the hospital.

Gaara watched as they stepped outside, there was a slight breeze, and Isakso ran her hand through her short hair expressing what looked to be displeasure.

"So where do you live?" asked Temari staring down the younger girl who only smiled back.

"On the other side of town near the outskirts." she replied extending a dainty finger in some general direction.

Temari followed the finger with her eyes, "Outskirts, isn't that near the bar district?" She asked, knowing that was a shadier part of town.

"Well, um, yes but it was all i could ...afford." Mumbled Isakso visibly downed at the mention of the bar district.

Temari, not being stupid, connected the dots, "Isn't that whe-"

She was cut off by Gaara, "Temari"

Who knew that at this point Gaara would have more tact than his older sister? Isakso just brushed it off and smiled thankfully in the direction of her savior. The finally left the hospital grounds walking together since the Kazekage's residence was also in that direction, just not so far out. As they walked Temari chatted with Isakso trying to get to know the mysterious younger woman, who turned out to not be that mysterious. Other than a surprisingly cheerful disposition Temari learned that she worked at a small dango shop and had absolutely no ties to the ninja of the village.

When they reached the kage residence Isakso bowed lowly, "Thank you again Gaara-sama."

Gaara was slightly stunned, "Hn"

Isakso didn't take his characteristic muteness to heart and waved goodbye to Temari before continuing on her way.

Temari turned to enter their home, opening the door to the blessed coolness within. Sensing that he wasn't following her she turned to look at her youngest brother.

"You comin'?" she asked.

"No" was the only answer she received before Gaara left onto the rooftop and out of her vision. She sighed, just because Gaara seemed to be making and effort to change didn't mean that he was going to become all warm and fuzzy overnight.

"Kankuro!" she shouted closing the door to the outside world behind her.

Unknown to Temari the reason Gaara didn't come inside was because he was now stalking the interesting young woman. He followed behind her keeping to the rooftops to avoid being seen. It wasn't that he was stalking her; he just felt an unidentifiable feeling that urged him to make sure she got home ok.

Isakso walked through a busier part of town slowly. The sun was still high in the sky so she felt no hurry to get home. Truthfully she was avoiding having to pass through the drunk district again and trying to think of an alternative rout in her mind. After finally giving up in exasperation she decided to just travel through some smaller alleys that connected to her house and relatively safe during the day.

"The first thing I'm doing when I get home is talking a shower." she thought, feeling dirty just thinking about the event of the past few days.

She instead turned her thoughts towards he psychotic young man who she now considered her own personal savior. He really wasn't all that bad. From all the stories she had heard over the years she expected him to be more...intimidating. But from what she could tell he just looked sad. She had observed him the first night there, he hadn't known she was watching but she saw his expression as he gazed out into the night. He looked extremely sad and lonely. It reminded Isakso a lot of herself after she had lost her mother.

Shaking herself out of her depressive thoughts Isakso quickly sucked into a small back alley and headed towards home.

"I need to move." she decided, talking out loud to herself. "And get Gaara-sama a thank you present." She added silently as an afterthought.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know what you're all thinking "Wow another chapter already?!" And the answer is YES! I have too many great ideas about this story and if i dont' get them all out now they will definitely fly away.**

**Don't worry i'll probably hit writers block somewhere around chapt 10 _ .  
**

**Anywho, i originally planned for this chapter to be fluffy and light with some good old Gaara and Isakso bonding and becoming freinds...But then my brain was like "screw that!" and this happened instead. So enjoy!  
**

**Review, tell me what you think of Isakso.  
**

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**Chapter Five  
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Isakso almost sighed in dejection. Another day gone by and she hadn't seen heads or tails of Gaara. After one week of searching not only had she found the perfect apartment but she had also found the perfect thank you present. All in all she was rather pleased with herself and couldn't wait to give it to the elusive red head. But she hadn't seen him around and another week went by. She had considered just going to his house to drop it off but she had a feeling that this action would be seen as intrusive and that Gaara preferred to be left alone. Her showing up at his house may just make her seem disrespectful.

"Hey! There are customers you know! Daydreaming doesn't get them their food." snapped her boss, noticing that Isakso's thoughts were drifting.

"Yes! So sorry, I'll get right to it." She replied hastily, scampering off to serve dango and take orders.

By the time she got off work Isakso was exhausted but still sent the last customer home with the friendliest smile she could muster. Ugh, she swore that her boss had held a grudge all day over her spacing out. Sure it had happened more than once but that didn't mean that he had to work her to the bloody bone till the end of her shift.

"Cranky old man" she muttered under her breath, departing on the short walk to her house. She was incredibly thankful that she had decided to move. Ever since the attack she had just had too much anxiety when out walking alone, she even took pains to try and get off work before dark in order to lessen her fear. Her new apartment was much closer to the shop and further away from the bar district. The rent was a little higher but it was worth it.

She sighed when she finally closed and bolted her door behind her. Unfortunately she had had to stay late this time. Due to her spaying out during the day she had gotten a little behind on her closing chores and the sun had gone down before she left. Of course she made it home without incident but the anxiety that caused her to leap ten feet in the air at every shadow was honestly tiring.

Isakso glanced at the nicely wrapped bundle on her tabletop. Her mother had always told her to repay her debts. Since her mother was gone now Isakso took pains to follow the moral code she had taught her. She also remembered her mother strongly urging her to stay away from Suna's most feared and hated child. It caused a dilemma; pay him back or stay away. For the first couple days after her release, and while shopping for a present, Isakso had struggled with the decision. But when she had spotted the perfect gift the scales had tipped and she decided that what he had done for her definitely deserved to be repaid.

She just hoped her mother wasn't scolding her from the grave.

Isakso woke the next morning and sleepily rubbed grains from her eyes before climbing out of bed to take a wonderfully long shower. An hour long one to be precise. As she was drying her ridiculously short hair, something she still hadn't gotten used to, she realized she had the day off. Upon this realization her eyes darted towards the bundle still sitting on the table by her door.

Huffing in agitation over her nerves Isakso quickly got dressed in baggy pants and a nice loose fitting shirt, grabbed the package and left the house before she had a chance to change her mind.

Her nervousness increased with every step she took toward Gaara's residence. It was ridiculous, Isakso mentally scolder herself. She hadn't been nervous when talking to him two weeks ago, and nothing had really changed except for the fact that she was seeking him out. Sure he was the most dangerous person in the village and had killed many people, but that wasn't why she was nervous. What if her didn't like the gift? What if he didn't even want to see her again and only thought of her as a burden, a weak, useless, tainted girl he had saved on a whim?

_"Well, if he doesn't ever want to see me again I'll give him the gift and leave." _thought Isakso morosely. But she had worked too damn hard to find the perfect gift to simply not give it to him.

She finally looked up from her contemplation and was startled to see that her feet had led her to her destination. Isakso gulped nervously, and forced herself up the steps to knock on the door. She made sure to fix a radiant smile upon her face before it was answered.

Kunkuro looked up from greasing the joints of his puppets at the sound of knocking. Who the hell ever came to their house? Probably someone from the council seeing as everyone else in town gave the residence a wide berth due to the fact that Gaara live here.

"Temari!" he yelled into the confines of the house, "Someones at the door!"

"Then you answer it baka! I'm busy!" came the reply of his irritable older sister.

"Ugh." he grunted heaving himself off the couch to answer the door. Upon opening it he was greeted by the sight of a young girl smiling at him as if him answering the door was the best thing in the world. "What the hell do you want?" he asked rudely, irritated at being interrupted and even having to open the door.

"Oh!" Isakso exclaimed recognizing him as Gaara's other sibling. She bowed slightly in respect, "I was wondering if Gaara-sama was here."

What the hell? She wanted Gaara? That was the weirdest thing he had ever hear in his entire life. He stared at her for a minute, making her fidget nervously under his gaze.

"What the hell do you want with Gaara?"

"I...um...have something for him?" The statement came out as more of a question than an answer.

"Riiight. Come on in I guess" he was confused but let her into the house anyway. She didn't look like any danger, just a harmless civilian girl who, for some reason, wanted to associate with his psychopathic brother.

Isakso smiled brightly at being let into his house. Honestly, the way he had looked at her made her think that he was going to shut the door in her face. He was still look at her oddly when Temari entered the room.

"Oh! Temari-san, how are you?" Isakso asked with another bow in the older girl's direction.

Temrai didn't respond to the general courtesy skipping straight to, "what are you doing here?"

"She says she has something for Gaara." Kunkuro cut in before Isakso could answer.

"Really?" asked Temari in surprise, looking back at the girl who did her best to smile in response.

Thankfully Isakso was saved from having to bear anymore of the sibling scrutiny by the person she had come to see.

Gaara was slightly irritated. He had been forced to come downstairs to investigate the racket his sibling were making. He hoped he wasn't going to be walking in on them trying to kill each other again. Only two weeks ago he could just threaten them with death to keep them quiet, but now that he was trying not to do that it seemed like the squabble occurred more frequently in his presence. It was certainly less of a headache when they feared him. When he came down the stair he was surprised to see that not only were they not trying to kill each other, but there was another person present. Said person turned to look up at him after hearing his footsteps. As the girl turned her face towards him her features melted into obvious relief. It was the girl from the hospital.

"Gaara-sama" she bowed low at the waist in his direction.

"This girl says she has something for you." Kunkuro stated looking back and forth between Gaara and Isakso.

"Yes! I do." Isakso smiled nervously and pulled the package out from her bag.

"Ok! We'll just leave you two alone." Temari stated hurriedly, practically shoving Kunkuro out of the room with her despite his protests.

As soon as the two eldest sand siblings left the room Isakso felt her nervousness peak. Gaara had descended the stairs and was watching her with unreadable eyes. This was it, now or never. She held the package out to him. He glanced at it before looking back at her.

It was awkward, to say the least.

"Your supposed to take it," she insisted.

Gaara hesitantly lifted the package out of her hands and turned it over in inspection. It didn't look dangerous, no hidden explosive tags or traps. Finally deciding it was safe he opened the bundle.

"It's tea," Isakso clarified in response to his quizzical glance, "it's for you."

"Why?" Gaara asked.

Why? She would have thought that was obvious. But Iskaso could tell by the intensity of his stare that he was actually confused.

"For saving my life." She smiled.

"Why would you thank me for that." He hadn't expected to see the strange blond again, let alone for her to show up on his doorstep giving him gifts. It was confusing. No one had ever given him a gift before. He had witnessed his siblings getting many gifts on occasions like their birthdays, but he had never received any on his. Even so it wasn't even his birthday and he was thoroughly confused, not that he let it show on his face.

Isakso was once again thrown off guard by his odd question. Upon realizing his confusion she almost felt the urge to laugh. It was kinda cute. But then she realized that the reason from his confusion was probably because he had never been thanked for saving anyone's life before.

She hummed under her breath for a minute trying to think of a way to answer his question. "It's because I was extremely grateful for your help. And when people feel indebted to another person they usually return the favor, hence the gift."

Gaara seemed to contemplate her explanation for a minute before nodding slightly.

They stood silently for a few minutes before Isakso asked, "Would you like me to make you some?" Judging by the way he was staring at the package he had probably never made tea for himself.

It was true that Gaara had no idea how to make tea. Before his fathers death they had had servant to do that for him and his siblings. Not that he had ever actually drank tea before. Once again he nodded slightly before leading the way to the they were walking he could practically feel her smile burning into his back as she followed him.

Isakso was practically bursting with happiness. Not only had he accepted her gift but was allowing her to stay and make him some. She bustled around the large kitchen, finding their teapot, filling it with water and setting it to boil. Gaara sat at the table and stared at her without any emotion crossing his face. As soon as it was done Isakso brought two cups over to the table and poured one for Gaara and then one for herself.

Isakso sat on the other side of the table watching as Gaara did a small hand gesture before tentatively taking a sip.

After checking to see if it was poisoned Gaara sipped some of the steaming liquid into his mouth slowly. Throughout his life Gaara had never really indulged in pleasurable activities or anything of that sort, preferring killing and blood, but this tea was indeed pleasurable. It not only tasted good but soothed his pounding headache, and sore muscles. Gaara felt himself relaxing into his stayed like that for a few minutes, savoring the relief and the odd company of Isakso. It wasn't every day that Gaara felt relaxed enough to let down his gaurd around a complete stranger. A stranger who had just given him a questionable drink.

Suddenly he was suspicious. Gaara never felt relaxed, there had to be something in the tea to make him let down his guard.

"What did you put in here?" He rasped suddenly angry.

"What?!" Isakso was startled by the sudden change. One minute he looked to be relaxing, feeling the tea's calming effects and the next he was angrily accusing her of something.

Unintentionally Gaara's sand whipped out close to the girls head and knocked a picture off the wall. She shrank back in fear. _"Good" _he thought, she was finally scared.

Isakso finally remembered who she was dealing with. She wasn't sitting comfortably drinking tea in just anyone's kitchen and the boy across from her wasn't just any calm, ordinary person. Her throat constricted in fear seeing his ever present sand twitch and swirl around him in agitation. As slowly as she could Isakso lifted herself out of her chair, feeling his eyes following her every move. Moving around the table Isakso lowered herself until her knees were on the floor and she was bowing, prostrate on the floor before him.

"I am so sorry Gaara-sama. I promise that I had no ill will. The tea was to help you relax. There was nothing harmful in it I swear." She said with as much conviction she could muster with her head bowed on the floor.

At that moment Temari and Kunkuro burst into the kitchen. They had heard the crash of something being broken and rushed into the kitchen fearing the worst. Gaara was still unstable despite his attempt to change and he could easily kill an untrained civilian girl.

What they thankfully found instead of a bloody mess was Isakso kneeling on the floor, bowing towards Gaara who was clutching his head with one hand while sand swirled around him.

"What's going one?" Asked Temari surveying the situation.

"I didn't do anything to the tea I swear." mumbled the prone girl, not lifting her head from her bowing position. From that Temari gleaned a pretty good guess of what had happened.

At her signal Kunkuro walked over to the tea, giving Gaara a wide berth, and inspected it. Kunkuro was the best at detecting poisons, using them with his puppets. After performing a few justu and a tastes test he set the cup down.

"It's fine Gaara. Not poisoned or anythings. The only thing I found were some really strong herbs." Kunkuro said looking at his younger brother, muscles tense, ready for an outburst any second.

Gaara's sand slowly trickled back into his gourd as he looked at the young girl on the ground. She had only wanted to help him relax and repay him for saving his life. He felt foolish and on edge. It was hard to deal with the conflicting feelings that he couldn't identify. All he knew understood was that he had messed up. Now she was scared of him. Her fear was evident by the way she small frame trembled slightly. She was afraid of him again, just like everyone else.

Taking his eyes off of her Gaara made his way towards the door, pausing by the fame.

"I'm sorry." He rasped. Then he was gone.

Temari and Kunkuro stared in the direction Gaara had left with their mouths hanging open slightly. Not only had he not killed them all but he had even apologized. That was only the second time both siblings had ever heard those words come from his mouth. They were still gaping when Isakso finally picked herself up off the floor.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She bowed low, keeping her face turned towards the ground. With those words she swiftly made her way out of the kitchen and through the front door.

"Well damn." muttered Kunkuro, "What the hell just happened?"

"What happened was that Gaara may have ruined his chance at having just one bloody person in the village accept him." groaned Temari. It obviously had been too much to hope for. She should probably go talk to Gaara.

As Isakso left the sand siblings household the tears really started to flow. Of course it had been a bad idea. How stupid did she have to be to think that Subaku no Gaara would accept her gift? Obviously pretty stupid, she berated herself as tears started coming in harder. He had thought she was trying to poison him! Then almost killed her! She should have just listened to her mothers advice from beyond the grave.

Isakso barely registered she had made it home until she threw herself face down on her bed. She wallowed like that in self-pity for a good two hours before she finally stopped crying and fell asleep curled into a small ball.

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**I know, I know! Sorrry for the seriously unfluffy chapter but i figured this was more realistic. i mean Gaara is on seriously messed up kid! He can't get over his sever violent tendencies in only two weeks! But don't worry our favorite psychopath is going to be taking some steps in the right direction next chapter!**

**Thanks for Reading! Reviews make me happy btw ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Aw man, this was a hard on to write. I kept feeling the enitre time like i was making Gaara to ooc. Let me know what you guys think!**

**BTW: this is my longest chapter yet and i am super proud of myself!**

**Anywho enjoy the awesome that is Gaara and my humble character Isakso-chan who is desperately trying to win is affections just like we all wish we could. **

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**Chapter Six**

Gaara had spent the better part of the night on the roof of his house. He was thinking about the girl. Isakso. Why was it so hard to act normal? To not attack everyone in sight and make everyone hate him? Of course he had created his reputation by killing everyone who irritated him. It was a hard habit to break. He still felt like killing at the slightest provocation. He still didn't trust anybody but his siblings even if they didn't trust him yet.

Isakso was a civilian, and all civilians of Suna were afraid of him. Even though she had said that she wasn't afraid, smiled at him, and thanked him, he didn't believe her. He knew that people could lie, and wear false smiles. Yashamaru was a prime example of that. Due to that rationalization, built up years of hatred, resentment, and rejection, Gaara had assumed she was trying to kill him. And why wouldn't she? He was a monster in everyone else's eyes.

Time passed unnoticed and when the sun finally rose it came as a surprise. Gaara had spent so long without sleep that he hardly noticed the passage of night time hours anymore. Once in awhile he became envious of normal people. A few hours after sunrise one of those normal people, Temari, came to find him on the roof.

"I thought I would find you up here." She stated, walking over to stand beside him. They gazed out over the village in companionable silence for awhile.

Gaara took the time to appreciate that he was even able to have something like this. Only two and a half weeks ago and Temari would have been to scared of him to even stay around longer than necessary. It felt good to have a different kind of bond with his siblings now. It was tentative at best, they still flinched slightly. Still watched their words when they thought he would lash out in anger. But it was a start to having a normal relationship. He almost understood the want for companionship. It was simply easier with his sibling because they had always been around.

Temari finally broke the silence, "You should go talk to her ya know." She wasn't entirely sure how Gaara would react to her words but she said them anyways. The atmosphere around the boy was calm enough.

"Hn," of course he knew who she was talking about. "She thinks I'm a monster."

"Well yeah. You did kind of attack her." Gaara sent his sister a small glare for her lack of tact. She smirked back at him. For all her previous fear she was joking with the young jinchuriki. Taunting him in a sisterly fashion.

Gaara once again questioned why he just didn't go back to threatening them.

Temari looked at her youngest brother from the corner of her eye. In the end he would do whatever he wanted. It just so happened that he wanted to be accepted by the village and it's people.

"Well do whatever you want, I gotta mission." Temari reached out as if to ruffle his hair, something she hadn't done since he was really little, but stopped herself. Not quite warm and cuddly yet, she reminded herself.

As she made her way out of her house she smirked to herself. She did have a mission but that wasn't for about an hour. She had plans before she took off.

Isakso had been late to work. Surprisingly her boss was gracious about it. It must have been the fact that she had never been late before. And the redness around her eyes that clearly indicated crying. She felt like such a cry baby. And the only times she seemed to cry were around and about Gaara. She hadn't even cried as much after the attack, simply smiling acting like nothing was wrong, almost as if she couldn't cry about it. After crying on and off for a few hours Isakso had fallen asleep. She had slept a whole eleven hours, how she had managed that she would never know. She had also, to her dismay, forgot to set an alarm clock, resulting in her tardiness.

Iskaos was currently serving customers, smiling away and hoping no one would notice or comment on her sluggishness today. A few of her regulars had already given her concerned glances. As she was making her rounds, refilling water Iskaso spotted a familiar head of blond hair spiked into four ponytails. The owner of this head of hair was looking at her expectantly.

"Temari-san, what can i get for you?" Isakso asked cordially. She sincerely hoped that the older girl wasn't here to talk about yesterday.

"Just some tea. I'm not actually hear to eat though." Temari replied, flushing Isakso's hope down the drain.

"Of course. I'll be right back."

As soon as Isakso steeped some tea for Temari she told her boss that she was going on a ten minute break. The older girl was clearly hear to talk, and she had a feeling she would want to sit down for it. Placing the tea and two delicate cups on a platter Isakso was reminded of the scene in the Subaku kitchen. She glared down at the tea for a moment, as if blaming it for her predicament, before putting on her trademark smile and making her way to where Temari was waiting patiently.

"Thanks." Temari said brusquely, pouring two cups. They sipped the hot liquid in companionable silence for awhile before Temari broached the subject, "So about yesterday..."

"No!" Iskaos stated rather, loudly shocking Temari. She blushed at her tone. "No, I mean...it's ok. It was my fault I should have known better."

"Your fault?" Temari prompted.

"I should have known Gaara-sama wouldn't want the tea. I mean,, what was i thinking just showing up at your door and expecting him to just accept random presents? Of course he thought was trying to poison him! I mean you guys are shinobi, it practically comes with the job description!" Isakso cut off her little rant panting slightly.

The fan wielder considered the girl for a moment before asking, "So wait, your upset because you think he's mad at you? Not because he almost attacked you?"

"Yes! Well no. I mean it was pretty terrifying when his sand came flying at me. I've heard all the stories. But...I don't know, he saved me the other day, and he didn't really hurt me." Isakso's peeked up from her cup at Temari. Great, now she was going to think that she was some crazy lunatic.

"He would have."

"What?" Isakso wasn't sure she had heard right since the words were spoken too softly.

"If you had met Gaara like three weeks ago he would have killed you. No doubt. Just a bloody smear in the sand." Teamri stated this matter of factly. "You said you heard the stories. But...he's different these days."

"I know. He doesn't look as angry anymore." When she was a child Isakso would of course run away from Gaara along with the other children. She would also look back over her shoulder and see his downcast expression. Over the years she had observed from afar that his downcast expression had turned angry and resentful. The short while she had observed him in the hospital she had noticed that he looked sad. He also looked very thoughtful. It was a definite change.

Isakso almost opened her mouth to ask why the sudden change had occurred. Temari would definitely know what had happened since they were not only siblings, but team members as well. But then she thought better of it, mortified. Gaara didn't even want to see her, let alone have her stick her nose in his personal business.

"I know" Isakso said again, forcing a convincing smile. "But I'm sure it's none of my business."

Temari looked at the girl across from her smiling like a fool. She wondered if Isakso really knew how dangerous Gaara was, or at least used to be. Well, either way, she was here to convince her that he wasn't as dangerous as he made himself seem the other day. As crazy as that notion was.

Temari was about to speak when, "Isakso-san! Break times over!" interrupted a smallish man with graying hair who apparently was Isakso's boss.

"Ok!" Isakso trilled back, "I'm sorry Temari-san i have to get back to work. Maybe we can talk another time?" despite the subject Isakso had enjoyed talking to the experienced ninja. She didn't have very many friends. Actually now that she thought about it she didn't have any friends at all.

"Sure." Temari stood to leave. "I just really wanted to say, give him another chance. Sayonara!" Then she left before Isakso had a chance to ask what she had meant.

Isakso stood and pondered on Temari's statement for a moment. Apparently a moment too long because her boss once again called out to her to gear her ass in gear.

Two days later found Isakso in pretty much the same spot. Getting berated by her irate boss, Tama-san, while working to the bone to afford her higher rent. It was still worth it in her mind. She didn't even mind her bosses constant nagging, he was always like that. But she knew that no matter how irritated with her he got that he wouldn't never in a million years fire her. The regular customers frequenting the shop loved Isakso and would most likely boycott if she left. Not only that, but Isakso also seemed to be the only person in all of Suna who could stand to work at the shop for more than a month without quitting. It was something about her boss's abrasive personality and her easily forgiving and positive personality that made it work.

Personally, Isakso thought the old man liked her more than he let on. He was teaching her how to run the kitchen. Normally she was just a waitress and only served food but earlier that day Tama had announced that she was going to learn how to work in the kitchen as well. Isakso had smiled at the opportunity, it meant more hours, which meant more money for rent and other commodities. Unknown to her however was the Tama did like the girl, and had even heard about what had happened. His gruff sympathy only extend as far as giving her more work which he knew she needed.

She was in the kitchen today and was mixing the batter for a batch of dango while waiting for some one she had already made to finish browning. It was her first batch by herself and she didn't know how it would turn out. The fact that she kept thinking about a certain redhead didn't help matters. How could she cook when she could bareley focus? She sighed and glazed the now finished dango that only looked semi-appetizing. She sighed, Isakso was so focused on Gaara that when she heard his voice floating in from the front of the store she brushed it off, assuming it was her imagination.

Until she was interrupted that was, "Isakso-san," came a gruff voice from directly behind her. She snapped out of her thoughts with a little shreik and spun to face Tama. If he had been the type of man he would have laughed quite loudly at her antics. "Someone here to see ya."

The bowl was lifted from her hands and Isakso was practically shoved from the kitchen. The old man probably just didn't want Isakso burning any more food, she thought to herself. Her eyes slowly swept the perimeter of the room while wondering who could possibly come by to see her. She didn't have any friends or family so it had to be either Temari or some village official coming ask more annoyingly intrusive questions about the incident.

Her eyes eventually stopped on startling red hair that rested atop the head of no other than Gaara. Isakso felt her limbs start to shake out of pure embarrassment. It was an unexpected feeling that was almost overwhelming. Why would Gaara come to her work? Did he suddenly develop a desire for dango and tea? No, that couldn't be it, she had never seen him in the shop before and Tama said that he was her to see her specifically. What on earth could he want?

Seeing that Gaara had spotted her as well Isakso forcefully stopped her nervous limbs from shaking, planted her normal smile on her face and walked to greet the intimidating young man.

Gaara had spent the better part of two days in indecision. It was a rare feeling for the youngest of the sand siblings. Usually his mind was pretty set, it usually involved killing, something had never been indecisive about until the chunnin exams. Since then had had decided that killing was no longer the only way to validate his existence and become strong. Even though that was a hard decision it hadn't involved any second guessing. He had decided that forming bonds was the first step, his siblings for starters. But that was proving difficult. They still flinched involuntarily when they thought he was going to lose his temper. Which he honestly still felt like doing at times.

No, Gaara's indecision had nothing to do with his predicament over his insane urge to maim and kill. The feeling actually revolved around an insignificant civilian girl who happened to catch the backlash of his rage. Gaara had never felt an the kind of emotion that had swelled in his chest when looking down at the terrified girl apologizing to him on his kitchen floor. He hadn't known what to do. No one had ever sincerely apologized to him before. The only apologies he received were the pre-death snivilings.

He only knew that he had made a mistake and that this girl who had been so kind and accepting would now hate and mistrust him.

According to Kunkuro that feeling was guilt.

He thought back to the awkward conversation he had had with his brother.

_"Can i come in?" Kunkuro jerked nervously and spun towards the voice._

_It was Gaara, standing in the threshold of his room. Gaara looked around. He had never been in his siblings rooms. His father had seperated Temari and Kunkuro from Gaara during much of their childhood and after Yashamaru's death, when Gaara had been moved to the main house, he had lived in a different part of the house. Kunkuro's room was cleaner than Gaara had imagined. _

_"G-Gaara! Um...S-sure." Kunkruo stuttered obviously not wanting Gaara anywhere near his room. As Gaara crossed the threshold he noticed Kunkuro indiscreetly tense as if to flee._

_Maybe he shouldn't ask his brother for assistance. It was almost painful to see his brother so scared of him. It made him want to lash out like he had done in the past, to make Kunkuro hurt as well. But he wouldn't do that anymore, he wanted to be trusted by his siblings. And he had a matter that Kunkuro could possibly shed some light on, seeing as he had more experience interacting with other people. For the first times in his life Gaara was going to ask his brother for advice._

_Gaara came to a stop in the middle of the room, taking a moment to observe his surroundings. Kunkuro stood by the door, unsure of how to act._

_"The girl who was here the other day..." he began in his raspy voice, he then stopped unsure about how to finish his statement._

_"Yeah, the one you kinda...attacked?" Kunkuro ventured, feeling a bit braver seeing as his brother wasn't exuding any of the normal signs of hostility._

_That was, until Gaara turned to glare at him a bit, "Yes. Since then I have had this... feeling. And i don't know what it is."_

_"Um...guilt?" Kunkuro was starting to get a little freaked out. Unlike Temari, Kunkuro didn't totally believe in Gaara's new change of attitude. It was just too out there. For 16 years the kid had been a psychotic killer and now he wanted to be all warm and fuzzy? It as just too weird to believe._

_"Guilt?" Gaara repeated as if rolling the word around in his mouth. He knew what the word meant but to apply that kind of emotion to himself was entirely new, a foreign concept._

_"Yeah man, it means you feel bad for attacking the chick." Kunkuro's voice clearly indicated that he thought it was just as puzzling as Gaara. _

_"What do i do about it?" Gaara asked a little frustrated._

_Kunkuro noticed the shift in mood and backed away a step before answering, "Most people would apologize." _

_"Hn" Gaara considered the answer, Temari had said that he should go talk to the girl. _

_Gaara turned a left the room without a word and barely caught Kunkuro's audible sigh of relief. _

Now Gaara's problem was about how to get rid of this feeling. He had apologized before before he even knew he was feeling guilty but now that he was aware it didn't seem like enough. His thoughts had briefly turned to simply killing her and being done with all the trouble but that would have been a waste of all his efforts thus far.

After a two whole days of deliberation, Gaara managed to track the girl down to where she worked. It was a modest dango and tea shop. Gaara had never eaten dango or visited a shop, he always received glares from villager and a few time when he was younger, had even been chased out. No one would do that nowadays seeing as he would just have killed them mercilessly. It didn't come as a surprise that as soon as he entered the shop many of the customers fled, giving Gaara a wide berth as well as a few heated looks. Gaara carefully kept his face impassive but it saddened him to see the behavior.

The only person to openly acknowledge him was a man of small stature with gray hair.

"Can i help you." The mans tone was gruff and down to business. If he had any fear of the teen he hid it well.

"Isakso" Was all Gaara said in reply. The man gave him an odd look before scurrying to the back to presumably fetch the girl. Gaara felt a pang of anxiety in his stomach, sure she would run away at the sight of him. They always ran, even when he gave them no reason.

There was a shift of the screen that separated the kitchen and then there she was, gazing around the room until her eyes landed on him. Her eye widened exponentially and her limbs visibly started to shake. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. The girl was clearly terrified of him and would no doubt run off or tell him he was a monster and that she wanted him to leave her alone.

Instead she took a deep breath, stopped her limbs from shaking and plastered on a big smile. Even though he wasn't an expert on any facial expressions other than emotionless, Gaara could tell that her smile was too forced. Before he could think about it any more she had already walked over.

"Gaara-sama." she bowed low at the waist.

"Don't do that." Isakso paused mid-bow at his unexpected words. "there is no need."

"Ok!" she chirped, a bit confused. "Did you need something?" She thought back to what Temari had said about giving him another chance. It still didn't make sense but it looked like Gaara was going to give her another chance.

"The other day..." the teen began. Isakso was tempted to burst out into apologies but managed to hold herself back. " ...was a" he paused again looking for the right word, "misunderstanding."

Isakso blinked, taken aback. Had he come to apologize? "So, your not mad at me?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes in confusion "No"

"Oh! good, I was so worried!" Isakso smiled for real, elated that Gaara wasn't mad at her. It was a relief and instantly lightened her mood. "I am very sorry as well. I should have realized that you would be suspicious of a random gift. i mean you are a shinobi."

That wasn't the only reason he was suspicious of random gifts. Over the years the kazekage had tried many different methods of killing his youngest son. Poison had been one them. But he didn't mention to this girl beaming at him like had had just made her day. It was new. Usually he ruined peoples days with his very presence.

Now that the apologies had been said there came a period of awkward silence that included Gaara staring a hole into the wall and Isakso fidgeting like crazy.

"Would you like some dango?" She question finally.

The question caught the sand user off guard and he responded with "hn."

Taking that as a yeas Isakso quickly said, "Ok! i'll be right back. Have a seat."

Watching Iskaso bounce back to the kitchen Gaara uncomfortably took a seat on one of the polished wooden tables. Isakso returned quickly with a small plate of dango. Gaara eyed it with evident mistrust for a moment. He had never really eaten sweets.

Isakso misunderstood his look, "Oh it's not poisoned i promise" she said with a small laugh. "It was my first batch by myself though, so i don't know how good the will taste."

With that she took a stick and popped one into her mouth to prove it wasn't posioned. She chewed it thoughtfully for a moment before declaring it good.

"Not too shaby for my first attempt." Gaara noticed her looking over at him expectantly.

Gingerly he took a bite out of the treat. It was surprisingly good. He nodded his approval to his companion at the table.

Isakso grinned, "Well since i am apparently such a great cook, you can come by anytime and be my guinea pig."

Gaara only gave her a blank faced stare, clearly not as amused as she was. She smiled back, making up for his lack of facial movement.

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**I just wanted to let you all know that i have absolutely no idea ho dango is made. Saw something about how they made it in a manga once but that was a lond time ago. If any of you know the proper way, let me know and ill fix it.**

**Reviews make me happy. Seriously. DO IT! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Another chapter done, i hope you're as excited as i am.**

**Ugh, I almost rewrote this entire chapter. At one point half of it got erased and i spent a fee days just staring at it, not wanting to rewrite the part that got erased. I was sooo good too! I'm still so mad!**

**Anywho, this is for my lovely followers and the people who reviewed last chapter. I told you i would get it out soon just for you guys!**

**Anywho, enjoy and review!**

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**Chapter Seven**

To Isakso's complete surprise, Gaara actually took up her offer with absolute seriousness. He would show up once or twice, sometimes three, times a week, and she would try to impress him with her improving culinary abilities. It was unexpectedly peaceful. Isakso had never really had any friends, despite her friendly nature. Attachment had always been a hard concept for her after her family died. None of them had died at the same time, but unconsciously it ingrained the belief that it was better to not get attached to anyone because they would be gone someday, and she would be heartbroken. But Gaara was different.

The cool manner he had when he was with her was very unassuming. It didn't seem as if he wanted anything out of her, or had any expectations. He was just there, and it was comforting. When Gaara was with her she didn't feel as nervous or anxious as she did when she was by herself, and putting on a real smile became easier with each visit. His presence reminded her of when he had saved her and inadvertently made her comfortable around the handsome young man.

What she didn't know, was that Gaara did want something from her. It wasn't something most people would call a big deal, but for Gaara the notion itself was mind boggling and seemingly impossible. Gaara wanted Isakso to be his friend.

It was a difficult concept for the young junchuriki to grasp, what friends were. He vaguely remembered trying to be friends with other children when he was younger, but they had all shunned him and run away. It had hurt and caused scars to form in his heart that had contorted to rage and resentment when he got older. But this girl wasn't trying to run from him, she didn't shun him. If anything she seemed to welcome his presence, assuming nothing about him, his personality, or his past.

With the intention to make her his friend in mind, Gaara did his best to be non-threatening. It was difficult to say the least; he had spent most of his life doing the exact opposite, being deliberately threatening to get his way and to assuage the demon's bloodlust. But with his new determination to change himself, his resolve was steady. He still glared at many people, startling civilians who gave him dirty looks, but never more than that.

Iskaso seemed to help some, with controlling his urges. The girl looked at him so trustingly and it was easy to imagine the look that would morph her face if he lashed out violently again. He was sure it would be a mixture of disgust and disappointment. He was also sure that she would push him away and call him a monster, like everyone else.

The day started of bland enough, Gaara did some training early in the morning at a deserted training ground where he knew no one visited. Around mid-non he decided to visit the small dango shop. At first he hadn't taken Isakso's offer seriously assuming that she had just been extending an empty courtesy. Then one day he decided to drop by on a whim. Iskaso had looked so pleased to see him that he had continued to come by. It was…nice, for lack of a better word. No one was ever pleased to see the sand master.

Arriving at his destination Gaara took his customary table in the back corner of the room. It had become sort of reserved for him, mostly due to the fact that no one wanted to be sitting in the same place as him. Although the regulars gave him a wide berth, many of them had actually gotten used to his presence and there wasn't as many glares or stony silences. Life as normal was resuming.

Iskaso noticed him enter and take a seat. Since she was in the middle of helping a customer she only managed a small smile and a short wave. The customer she was helping wasn't a regular, and noticed the gesture in his direction. The man's eye immediately narrowed. The man turned back towards Isakso and started talking very fast and gesturing angrily. Even though Gaara was out of hearing distance, he could tell that the man was talking quite aggressively to Isakso, who was doing her best to pacify the man.

Gaara noticed that nervousness and anxiety were rolling off the girl in waves in response to the man's verbal assault. She seemed to cringe inward. Gaara felt his blood boil a little at the sight, and his sand rattle at the change in his mood. Within a few moments the guy was out the door, but not before throwing a very vicious glare in his direction. Gaara calmed his sand, and noticed that Iskaso was walking over to him wringing her hands slightly.

Isakso took a deep calming breath before walking over to Gaara's table. The nerve of that guy, Gaara had every right to be here. It was a public space. She understood why he was upset. A lot of the villagers acted that way around Gaara, because of what he had done. But that didn't mean that she would approve of his attitude. The man had said some vicious things and scared her very badly. Iskaso didn't react well to yelling, especially from men of any sort. It was too loud to violent and led to memories only a few weeks old.

Isakso approached Gaara's table smiling so he, hopefully, wouldn't question her about what had just transpired. He looked at her coolly for a good while. Isakso had come to understand over the past few weeks that Gaara wasn't a talkative guy and waited to let him speak first.

"He was mad because of me." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." Gaara's eye tightened, "but he was just being a bigot." She said dismissively. "What do you want today? I made some really good orange flavor dango if you wanna try?"

Gaara almost never ordered for himself, eating whatever she suggested or made. He simply nodded his head in acceptance of her suggestion, noting her commentary about what had just happened. The man bothered him, but surprisingly what he was most bothered about was Isakso's apparent reaction of fear. She hid it well with a smile when she had come over to his table but, being an expert on fear, he could tell it bothered her. He wasn't sure how the girl would react if questioned about it, so he kept quiet.

Isakso made her way to the kitchen trying to forget about the man and focus on getting Gaara some of her newly made treats. It was nice to have someone who would test out her new creations before she served them to the public.

She giggled slightly remembering when Gaara hadn't liked one of her creations so much. His face had twisted in disgust, but he slowly chewed a swallowed. She had been immediately concerned, and told him that he could have spit it out if he didn't like it. Apparently he hadn't wanted to be rude. She had just laughed at his demeanor and told him that they would just not serve that type. He had quickly nodded his agreement.

"_His facial expression"_ She thought to herself with amusement, it had been the first time he had shown anything like that on his face. It made her wonder what a smile would look like. The though calmed her nerves, and a real smile emerged.

Isakso made her way back towards the red head, smiling slightly. She placed the dango and tea in front of him before taking a seat herself. She watched him take an experimental bite before nodding in apparent satisfaction.

"Good?" She questioned expectantly.

Gaara nodded. Isakso smiled before getting up to help other customers. Isakso didn't mind Gaara's silence, when he was in the mood he would talk. Sometimes he just sat silently the entire time he was there. The one consistent thing about his visits were how long he stayed. The teen usually stayed just until Isakso got off. He would leave a few minutes before closing. Tama had commented on it once, even going as far as to nudge Isakso's shoulder suggestively. She had immediately brushed off him implications, Gaara wasn't interested in her like that. Isakso didn't mind his staying though, his presence made her feel more secure.

It was about another hour before Isakso started to feel uncomfortable. She was working diligently and enthusiastically and stopped by Gaara's table a few time to make sure he was doing ok. He was of course. The uncomfortable feeling in her gut stemmed from a man sitting at one of the farther wasn't a regular, in fact she had never seen him before. He wasn't even being threatening, or yelling and causing a fuss, like the man earlier. He was just staring. And it was the way he was staring that made Isakso's palms sweat and hands shake.

"Stop that" She murmured to her self quietly to stop her trembling.

She gulped, taking a shaky breath to try and calm down. It didn't work. Despite her smiles and carefree disposition, Isakso was still nervous around any male except Gaara and her boss. Usually she ignored the feeling and continued on with her work, outwardly treating everyone the same. Inside she was constantly squashing instincts to flee.

It wasn't that hard most of the time. None of her customers were ever threatening, with the exception of the man this morning. This man was different and Isakso recognized the look in his eye and felt like vomiting.

She quickly made her way back to the kitchen.

"Tama-san, do you mind if i take off a little early today?" She asked timidly.

"Go ahead girl. Work to damn much anyway." Her boss responded, not looking up from the stove top.

"Thanks! I'll come in early tomorrow to make it up!" Isakso turned to hang up her apron, missing Tama's eye roll at her workaholic nature.

She quickly made her way to Gaara's table.

"Gaara! Tama-san let me off early!" Isakso exclaimed to the stoic redhead.

Gaara looked at the waitress blankly, wondering what that had to do with him.

Isakso huffed before grabbing his hand a pulling him to his feet.

"That means that we should go do something outside the shop." Before he had time to protest Gaara was already being dragged in her wake.

Before reaching the door Isakso chanced a glance backwards. The man was still watching her. More specifically, her backside. Her cheeks flushed with shame, and she pulled Gaara faster along.

She didn't notice how far they had gone until a raspy voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Isakso" She stopped abruptly at Gaara's voice. They had gone a couple blocks without stopping or slowing the pace.

"oh! Sorry Gaara, i just got to excited i guess." Isakso lied. She released his had missing the course texture almost immediately.

Gaara observed the young girl in front of him. She released his hand, and he was surprised to realize that he missed the contact. No one ever touched him, let alone hold his hand. But Isakso had gripped his hand not only like it was no big deal, but as if it were a lifeline. He wondered if she realized that his hands had killed numerous people. It was a simple pleasure that was only ruined by one thing. Her hands were shaking.

It wasn't because of him, her hands were shaking for another reason and Gaara was sure he knew what it was. He shouldn't care though. This insignificant, weak civilian in front of him was scared. And why should he care. Only a short time ago he would have reveled in her fear, drawn it out. It was a tempting notion that his demon agreed wholeheartedly with. But Isakso wasn't scared of him.

The source of her fear was disturbing and against his better sense Gaara found himself asking "What's wrong?"

The startled look she gave him in response was enough to make him wish that he had never asked the question. Inwardly he panicked, imagining her telling him that it was none of his business and that she didn't want the concern of a monster. Outwardly he remained expressionless, as if he didn't care about whatever answer she choose.

Isakso panicked. What was she supposed to say? That she had run away in blind fear because a man had _looked _at her? That would be the way to make him think she was weak.

"It's nothing; we just don't get to spend any time together outside of the shop. I got excited; it's ok if you didn't want to hang out with me. I mean I did kinda drag you out of there." She lied again. She fidgeted with her hair momentarily before looking at Gaara's severe expression.

"You're lying." His words were unintentionally sharp, and Isakso flinched slightly.

"I am not!' She was aware she was getting defensive but couldn't help how her voice rose in pitch and volume.

"Yes, you are." The lanky teen moved in closer. "I'm a shinobi remember? I can tell when I'm being lied to." She was up against the wall now. He was so close but not quite touching her, she could feel heat radiating off his chest.

Isakso gulped, before placing a hand on Gaara's chest.

If it were anyone else she would have been panicking and crying at their proximity. But the only thing she felt when Gaara was near was flustered. The blond could feel a hot feeling spreading across her face and wished she still had her long hair to hide it.

Gaara backed off a bit, "You can tell me, isn't that what friends do?"

Isakso peeked up at him, surprised that he acknowledged they were friends. It make her feel elated and sad at the same time. But he was looking her as if he could consciously will her to trust him. It wasn't as if she didn't trust him, she was just used to never having anyone to talk to. And the subject was impossibly shameful.

Isakso took a shaky breath before answering "Yes. That's what friends do." She paused again. "The man at the shop."

"The one who yelled at you?"

She shook her head, "No, a different one...He was looking at me." She closed her eyes, knowing that she was going to have to elaborate.

Gaara was silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm always nervous, around men. He didn't do anything but look at me, my body, but i felt like i was back there. Like it was going to happen all over again." Isakso felt the trembling start and moisture gather in the corer of her eyes. Gaara was going to think she was weak and pathetic. Even worse, he might think that she was dirty.

Gaara was silent for a good while and Isakso was incredibly relieved when he finally spoke.

"Do you want me to kill him?" The question was delivered so nonchalantly that she wasn't sure she heard right.

When she looked at him, Gaara's eyes were narrowed, betraying his anger. He was looking at her, expecting an answer. Despite the seriousness of his offer, Isakso found it incredibly comforting, and remembered that he had killed a man for her before.

"No. No, it's ok. I'm just over reacting." Isakso dried her eyes and inhaled the hot Suna air deeply. The two of them stayed like that for a few minutes, one calming form fear the other from anger.

A slight wind picked up and sand and dust swirled around the busy street, harassing pedestrians. The same pedestrians who were giving a mixture os angry to fearful glances at the teens. Unknown to either of them Anbu were also staring at the couple. They had moved in on alter when Gaara had made an advance on the girl. It didn't appear threatening but one could never know with the small psychopath.

Isakso finally calmed her shaky breath and beating heart and smiled at the apparent psychopath.

"I'm so sorry Gaara." She bowed low at the waist in his direction.

"Hn" was his only response other than crossing his arms over his chest.

The blond straightened, "let me make it up too you. I did say we should hang out outside the shop and i wasn't lying about that part!"

She once again grabbed his hand and this time casually led him in the direction she wanted to go. It took about ten minutes before they reached their destination. It was a large cliff face.

Gaara looked at the girl blankly, not understanding what was so great about a wall of rock.

Isakso rolled her eyes, understanding his disbelief that he didn't express wit words. "We have to climb up," she pointed upwards for emphasis. "It take awhile but its worth it, i promise."

She started making her way to the worn train to begin the weary climb upwards, but was surprised when she felt two strong arms picking her up.

She squeaked in surprise and felt her face get hot immediately, "Wha-what are you doing?!"

The sand master just smirked at her before crouching low and leaping. Isakso didn't even have time to scream before they were on the top of the cliff. She had had her face buried in his chest and looked up, blinking in surprise. They were on top of the cliff, in no time at all. Isakso just stared in puzzlement for a minute before remembering that the man holding her was a shinobi.

Speaking of the young man, he was still holding her. And it didn't feel bad. It felt really good, his arms were strong, muscled, and secure. Isakso shook her head to clear the thoughts and was suddenly put down by Gaara. As her feet touched the ground she wobbled unsteadily for a moment before regaining her balance.

When she did she cleared her throat awkwardly, "This is it!" She walked over to the edge

The view from the cliff was magnificent. The whole village was laid out before the two teens. It looked as if it came right out a dream-scape, the buildings jutting upwards and the people impossibly small dots.

"I used to come up here a lot. After father died. There was no one left, and being above the village, being able to see everything, made me feel less alone." Isakso smiled sadly at the memories.

dusk started to fall and the couple stayed in silence, enjoying the company and sunset.

* * *

A new chapter woot woot!

Decided to add just a touch of fluff for you guys!

Happy Valentines Day! ^_^ 3

Review


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, sorry this took so long guys, i had a really hard time writing this. Idk what happened but it went from being, nice, fun in the sun and sand, something not as pleasant. **

**Anywho, read, enjoy, have feelings and for god's sake let me know what you guys think.**

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**Chapter Eight **

Temari was concerned. It had been over three months since the chunnin exams, thing in the village were starting to calm down . After Konoha accepted another alliance team Baki had been deployed to help retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. Despite her anxiety about Gaara being back in the field, he had handled things remarkably well. He had been calm and collected the entire trip, and even when fighting he hadn't lost his head. It was almost scary how calm her little brother was. But scary in a good way, if that was even possible.

Even though the mission, and surprisingly all their other missions, had gone so well; the new development seemed like way too much.

Gaara had decided to join a normal gennin team.

Those idiots on the other team would probably die before they knew what hit them. Even Kunkuro and her had gotten used to sleeping with one eye open around Gaara on missions. It had been a miracle that Gaara had even agreed to work with them. Even with his new attitude improvement, the ninja on the other team may not feel the same way.

When the fan user had expressed her concerns to Kunkuro however he had simply waved her off saying it would be fine, and that Gaara could handle it. Apparently they had some kind of deep 'manly' conversation that she wouldn't understand. Temari had promptly shown the puppeteer how much she didn't understand, after which he began calling her a girly man-beast. Things had gotten out of control from there.

Temari sighed and continued to make breakfast. Since they no longer had any servants it fell to the oldest, and only girl, out of the sibling to prepare meals. She was rubbish at cooking, and Kunkuro always complained but food was food. Gaara was eating with them more often these days, but most mornings he didn't show. She figured his sense of breakfast was different from other people since he didn't sleep. She wasn't particularly expecting him to show that morning.

Which was why she was so surprised when he did. She was just finishing up when he walked through the door and casually took a seat at the table. It still creeped her out when he showed up so silently. It also gave her the wiggins to be alone in a room with him, less so than before, but it was still a nagging feeling.

"Good morning Gaara" She said plaintively, setting a plate of food before him.

He made a "hn" sound as if to say "whats so great about it?" before beginning to eat.

She sighed again, before getting another plate ready for Kunkuro. He showed up a minute later and all but shoveled the food into his mouth, all the while complaining about her cooking skills. That was, before she slammed her fist into the top of his head.

It was unusually quite for a few minutes, mostly due to the presence of Gaara.

"So Gaara, are you seeing Isakso-chan today?" Teamri tried to ask casually.

Kunkuro almost choked on his food, while Gaara stared blankly for a few moments.

"It is a possibility." He said after a moment.

Kunkuro who had finally managed to clear his airway chimed in, "You mean that weird chick who gave Gaara tea?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Why the hell would Gaara and her be hanging out?" He questioned with incredulous raise of his eyebrows.

Both sibling turned towards the red head expectantly. If he was more accustomed to facial expression he would look alarmed at the sudden attention. The only thing he managed was slight confusion.

His forehead furrowed in thought and his eye narrowed momentarily. The sand sibling thought her wasn't going to answer their questioning looks when the silence stretched on for a long while.

Finally he spoke, "She say's that... we are friends."

It took physical effort for Temari's jaw not to drop to the floor. Kunkuro didn't even attempt to control his facial expression. Before she could inwardly compose herself Kunkuro whistled lowly.

"Girls got some guts. OW!" Temari had hit him over the head.

Before his siblings could start bickering agai,n or ask him anymore questions, Gaara decided it was time to leave. He didn't have anything particularly important to do until later in the day, but he was unaccustomed to staying in the house any longer than was necessary. He rose from the table and only stopped to strap on his gourd before heading out into the bright beating sun.

"Baka! you scared him off!" was he last thing he heard before closing the front door. He tentatively understood Temari and Kunkuro's relationship, it was a bit brutal but he could tell they loved each other. They had even seemed more comfortable around him, staying in the room longer, engaging in conversation. All the things he had taken for granted and pushed away before. He stopped outside his doorway for a moment letting the sun warm his face and the wind ruffle his hair for a moment, simply enjoying the sensation, before moving towards the old training field.

Despite how irritating his siblings were, they were right, Isakso had guts for hanging out with him. And not only because he was dangerous. He had begun to notice some of the villagers giving her the same cold, hateful stares usually reserved for him. It was unnerving, and made him oddly protective. He had even taken to following her home from the rooftops to make sure she was safe.

He would probably do the same tonight if he got done with whatever he had to do. Maybe stop by the shop if he had time. He finally made his way to the field and as always it was deserted. He stopped low for a moment and picked up a handful of sand, letting it fall through his fingers before straightening up.

He had spent a lot of time here when he was training over the years. Even when he had been put on a team with his siblings and Baki, he had preferred to train alone. If he ever spared with his siblings he tried killing them frequently. The only reason they survived spares most of the time was because of Baki's interference. He hadn't cared if they died, he only saw them as useless lumps of flesh connected by hatred. He had been wrong, he could see that now, and was even begging to think of them as precious people.

Now, he trained alone for a different purpose. He needed to become strong to protect his precious people, Temari, Kunkuro. . .Isakso. He needed to gain acceptance from the village, to protect them. He needed to become Kazekage. It wasn't a decision he had come to easily, but after long deliberation he had decided that it was the best course of action for acceptance and change. Gaara wasn't the only one who needed to change, the village was rotten, corrupted by the council, his father, and Orochimaru. He couldn't change himself and leave Suna to rot. Even though he had hated this place, it was where he was from, what had caused his hatred, as much a part of him as Shukaku was.

Gaara took a deep calming breath and stretched his arms out before him, palms towards the sand. As the air left his lungs the sand around his feet rippled outward in circular pattens. This continued in time with his breathing. As his breath began to even out the sand around his feet spread out farther and began to from constantly shifting patterns. It was like art, beautiful to anyone who didn't know what that sand could do. If any civilian or shinobi from Suna saw this they would either be utterly confused, or running for the hills.

After his breathing as steady and heart rate slow, Gaara released the pent up energy in the sand. He brought it up with hs hands and launched it at the various stone pillars in a move that would have buried any foe alive. The exercise continued with volleys of attacks ranging from clones, to sand bullets, to sand coffins. The training field landscape was constantly being reshaped to his will over the course of the next two hours.

Gaara sensed the presence of ANBU at one point but refused to acknowledge them. They were most likely there to check on why he was expelling so much chakra. There was only one this time; when he had first gotten back from Konoha he had begun training seriously, and swarms of ANBU had come in alarm. This was a normal occurrence by now but the lone ANBU was still on alert in case Gaara should decide to attack. The amount of chakra expelled was nothing to the young junchuriki, Shukaku was constantly feeding him a stream of energy and he could have gone on longer if his smaller body could keep up.

He collapsed on the ground, using his arms behind him to keep propped up. The ANBU was long gone, having seen that Gaara was just training and not viciously murdering anyone. There was a new presence and she was making her way towards him leisurely.

Her small frame lowered into the sand next to him and was quite for a moment before a water bottle was placed under his nose.

"Water?" Even though he wasn't looking at her, Gaara could practically hear the smile in her voice.

He took the bottle gratefully and just held it in his hand for a moment before taking a drink. No one had ever offered him water after training, it was a small act of friendship that seemed so to big to him.

After she watched him take large gulp she spoke again, " That was pretty amazing you know! I was only there for a few minutes but i have never seen anything like it." She flashed Gaara a smile again.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, choosing to ignore the nagging pride that seemed to swell at her praise.

"Oh!, I was just taking a walk. I have a little while before work and I didn't really have anything to do, so i figured might as well get out of the house. Then i saw you and figured you would like some water after training so hard. " Was her response. What she didn't tell him, was that she had been up for a long while, and had been having dreams that made her afraid to got to sleep, hard to stay asleep.

Her hand that was resting next to his moved so that their fingers were intertwined. It was a normal occurrence at this point. Ever since she had dragged him along out of the dango shop by the hand she had felt free to grab it in her whenever she felt like. Gaara didn't mind, even though he was unused to most physical contact, he couldn't deny that it was nice.

"Why?" He finally looked over at her, his eyes were narrowed and inquisitive.

"Why what?" She asked back, tilting her head in confusion.

"Why would you care if i wanted water after training?" He clarified once again.

"Oh, um well, that's what friends do isn't it? Take care of someone after they have worked so hard?" If Gaara had any less control over his facial movements his surprise would have been clear.

Iskaso couldn't possibly know that those were the exact words he had wanted to hear. That, that was a small essential piece of what he was working towards with the village. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded slightly showing he understood.

That seemed like enough for Isakso who smiled at him brightly before moving on to another topic. "So what are you doing today?"

His eyes narrowed again, not in confusion or surprise, but in concern and irritation.

"I am meeting with my new team today." he admitted finally. By joining a new genin team he would be closer to his goal of Kazkage. Staying with his siblings only hindered his progress of changing the villages views of him. If he could be accepted by his fellow shinobi it would be easier for them to eventually call him their leader.

"That's good isn't it?" She asked hesitantly, reading the irritation in his expression.

"Hn" It was necessary, but he knew what they would think. They would hate him, think he was still a monster. And it wasn't af if he had changed over night, he still felt like a monster sometimes. Still felt the incredible need to spill rivers of blood. Felt boiling hatred towards everyone who looked at him with contempt. The difference was that he was trying to change, to control himself, instead of just riding the wave of blood lust.

Hopefully with time they would see that.

"Hungry?" she asked suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Surprisingly he was, even though he had eaten just that morning. Training had really taken a lot out of him. He inclined his head in affirmation.

"Ok, i just got to go to the market, then we can go back to my place and i'll make us some food." She got up suddenly, bringing him with her by their connected hands. She released his hand as soon as they reached town, knowing that he was uncomfortable with the contact around other people. That was fine with her truthfully, it was like their own private secret and she liked the thought of that.

As they made their way through the market, Isakso made sure to ask what Gaara wanted to eat. This would be the first time she cooked for him privately and wanted to make sure it was good. Her culinary skills had improved drastically since Tama-san had let her start working in the kitchen. He had even talked about maybe expanding their menu. If that ever happened she would have some practice at least, she had taken to cooking for herself as a hobby and had been trying a lot of new recipes. But until this point it had only be for herself, Gaara would be the only other person she cooked for outside of work.

Gaara's taste in food was odd, she learned. She had all but grimaced when he said he had wanted to eat liver. As they walked around she picked up the ingredients for his meal while grabbing a couple of things for herself because she sure wasn't eating liver.

Most of the while Isakso was oblivious to the harsh stares, and coarse words they were receiving from the shop keepers and pedestrians. Gaara on the other hand, was not. He noticed every glare, every tensing of the muscles, and every harsh word. When they were aimed at him, he ignored it for the most part. He was used to it, even used to the urges that came with the stares. He was trying to ignore those too.

What he didn't expect was how much harder it was to ignore the urges when the glares were aimed at the girl by his side. He purposefully hung back while she did her shopping, feeling uncomfortable around the crowded market. She however did not notice, and continued to ask for his opinion on what types of food he preferred. She didn't notice his distance or the reason why.

Or if she did, she was hiding it very well. Wearing her normal smile, continuing being overly enthusiastic and optimistic, as if nothing bothered her. There was something wrong with that. There had to be. How could none of this bother her? The fact that it was men glaring at her should have some impact. He was well aware of how she felt about men, but at the moment it seemed as if she had no problem at all.

The feelings the welled up at the revelation made him want to intimidate her, corner her until she spilled her secrets. Until she dropped the fake face, and was honest. It reminded him of the day in the alley, after she had drug him off. He hadn't meant to get so close to her, but he had enjoyed watching her squirm at first, then something else had compelled him to get closer still. Something he couldn't identify.

The tattooed redhead was snapped out of his narrow eyed contemplation by a happy voice, "Gaara, do you prefer leeks of cucumbers?"

It was an odd question and threw him off to say the least. Why was he picking between the two? They were nothing alike. But the girl was holding them up at him expectantly, as if his opinion made all the difference.

"Hn" was his verbal reply, he gaze wandered over the leeks and Isakso picked up on the nonverbal message with ease.

"Leeks it is!. Just let me go pay for this." She wandered over to the owner of the cart and instantly Gaara could tell something was wrong. He shadowed the girl more closely, closing the distance he had been keeping from the shop. The owner had tensed upon Isakso's approach, and was about to do something Gaara was very familiar with.

AS Isakso set her purchases on the counter, she began digging in her loose fitting pant pockets for the appropriate change. The older man's nostrils flared, and he uttered one syllable.

"No"

"Pardon?"Isakso looked up from her rummaging in confusion.

" You're with him," he jerked his chin towards Gaara. Isakso's back went rigid. "Get out of my store, take your demon with you."

"But we haven't done anything wrong." Her voice was surprisingly steady.

"That thing was wrong from the moment it was born." He bravely turned his gaze towards the boy in question. Gaara's sand writhed at the look, at the words. This is why he had killed so many people. Trash like him. He wanted to kill him, Shukaku wanted to kill him. It was hard not to. To many past experiences, to many reflexes, to many emotions; all centered around killing, rage, and being rejected.

He took a deep breath, and tried his damnedest to rein in the bubbling blood lust.

But the man wasn't done.

"You're wrong. Do you know what he's done? I bet you wouldn't care. Too busy being the demons little whore." Isakso's back stiffened more, if at all possible. And her hands clenched reflexively.

"Get out of my shop!" He raised his hand as if to hit her. His hand didn't even get to it's downward stroke when his wrist was caught in a vice grip.

It wasn't sand that had the bone crushing hold, it was the hand of Sabaku no Gaara. A very angry Gaara. He was going to show this man why he was called a monster, give him a taste of exactly what he had done to all those other people. Except this would be worse he wouldn't kill this man with his sand.

No.

He would kill this man with his bare hands. He felt the bones of the mans wrist break, heard them. It as beautiful. Gaara wondered what his neck would sound like when it snapped under his hands.

He dragged the terrified man closer to him by the broken appendage and slowly lifted his other hand to the mans neck. So small, just flesh and bone, nothing human or worthwhile about this one. He was getting lost in the blood lust, but he was also lost in his own anger. How dare this man touch what was his.

He was startled out of his angry thought by a touch. It was soft, gentle, comforting. Gaara paused and looked down at the small hand that was touching his own, pleading that he release the man's wrist.

"Gaara, it's ok, really. You don't have to kill anyone for me. Not again." Gaara looked down at Isakso and saw that despite her steady words, tears were making tracks down her smooth cheeks.

He suddenly realized what he was doing. He was doing exactly what he hadn't wanted to do, hurting villagers, reverting back to his old ways, even scaring Isakso. He unceremoniously dropped the mans wrist and transferred his grip to Isakso's. The man promptly fell to the ground and a few village rushed to his aid. After all it wasn't every day that someone lived through an encounter with Gaara.

He swiftly turned, dragging Isakso with him. He ignored the crowed of villagers who had stood around to watch with looks ranging from contempt and hatred to outright fear. He moved past them, face blank, not letting anyone see how much he cared about the situation. He didn't even necessarily care about the man, he cared that he had almost destroyed himself by letting go. That Isakso almost saw it.

The girl in question was quiet, letting herself be led along, not protesting. She was probably afraid of him. Why wouldn't she be? He didn't know where he was taking her, somewhere away from the scene maybe. He didn't know he was confused. His pace began to slow and his grip slacken.

Suddenly he wasn't holding her hand anymore, she was holding his. Suddenly she was leading him, the direction they were going changed, and their path had certainty. She wasn't looking back at him but continued along with her head down. Eventually he recognized the route, he had followed her on it almost every night. They were going to her house.

She opened the door and held it open after her, waiting for him to enter after her. He paused at the threshold, unsure whether or not he should enter. Seeing his indecision she grabbed his hand and pulled him gently inside. She then closed the door and went to the kitchen, still quiet. Gaara stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure what to do with himself.

"Are you still hungry?" Came the question from the other room.

Isakso listened for an answer that never came. She sighed and leaned her head briefly against the fridge. She wasn't sure what had happened. Gaara had suddenly gotten so angry, not that the guy at the shop didn't deserved it, but still. It scared her.

Gaara didn't scare her, it was the thought of violence. When he had killed the man in the hospital, she had been relieved, grateful even. She had been so happy that the man was dead, that he couldn't hurt her anymore. But what she had felt today had been different. She had wanted that man dead. And it scared her.

She had told Gaara to stop, but only because she knew that he was trying to be a better person, and she didn't want to spoil it. He was trying to be a better person while she was becoming worse. She knew that man would be in her dreams tonight, the dreams that she told no one about. Where she became worse, and worse.

She set about making food from the supplies she had managed to get before the incident. It wasn't much but with what she had at home it would do. She had to act normal, smile. If not for herself, for Gaara, so everything would seem normal.

He came into the kitchen a short while later and just stood at the doorway watching her. She didn't respond immediately, but eventually struck up a one way conversation that sounded light hearted and happy on the surface. When she did turn to look at him it was with a smile and food.

He ate quietly, it was robotic and without expression. He probably thought she hated him, was scared of him. She knew she had to make it better.

"It's ok you know." He actually looked up and made eye contact with her at that statement. She gulped and continued with a smile. "I'm not afraid of you, i was just...startled...but the man. The violence."

Gaara nodded in understanding, not commenting, he knew what she meant. He seemed to relax a bit, taking comfort in her words. He was looking at her hard, trying to decipher her expression, to see if she was lying to him. The only thing he noticed what that her smile got wider and if possible, her eyes grew more downcast.

The lunch was quiet after that, both parties caught up in their own thought, not willing to broach the subject further.

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Ugh, i know what you guys are thinking "Why can't they just be happy for like one chapter?" Trust me i asked myself the same thing. I apparently just like to make my characters suffer. This was originally supposed to be a fluff chapter, some lovely lunch time with Gaara and Isakso, meeting Gaara's new teammates. But nope.

Sorry that's what i wrote folks. Hope you liked it anyway.

Leave me a little something to let me know what you thought. Improvements, comments, criticisms.


	9. Chapter 9

**So...not dead. That's good news. More good news, a new chapter! yay! So it may not be my longest, but hey you guys only have to read it. **

**I hope you guys enjoy, more notes at the bottom is you care ^_^**

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**Chapter Nine**

When Gaara left Isakso's, it was with a feeling of agitation. He knew she wasn't telling him the whole truth. She was lying to him about something. She was probably terrified of him now, thought him a real monster, and understood why the rest of the village hated him. It was the damn shop keepers fault! That damn ignorant piece of trash, Gaara had half a mind to go back and finish killing him. He let himself rage over the thought briefly.

He couldn't do that though. Despite what kind of person that man was, he was a citizen of Suna. Gaara had already decided to move forward and accept everyone, even if they didn't feel the same. Most of the villager still despised him and many of the shinobi would kill him on orders without a second thought.

It was one thing when those feelings and killing intent were directed towards him but another when his blond haired companion was involved. Seeing her become the target

of such aggression triggered his anger and interfered with the level head he had been trying to maintain.

It would probably be best if she stopped associating with him. The villagers would leave her be and she wouldn't have to stand his company. After today he wasn't sure if she even wanted to be his friend anymore. He knew that it would be better to keep his distance, but he was selfish, and that simply wasn't going to happen. Isakso had been the first person outside his family to accept him. She had given him what he had wanted more than anything; she had given him a comrade, a friend.

At the thought of comrade's Gaara looked up at the position of the sun. He had been wandering the streets of Suna aimlessly since leaving Isakso's and realized that it was time to go meet his team. He actually felt nervous at the thought. He still hadn't fully calmed down from the encounter earlier and knew that whatever happened with these shinobi could potentially be a lot worse.

He recalled that Baki had told him to meet them at training field four. There were only going to be two other shinobi on his team but Gaara had no doubt that there would be others hidden in the shadows to watch the interaction. His feet shuffled through the sand, in no hurry to arrive at his destination. But, arrive he did.

He entered the training area soundlessly and was able to hear some of the conversation between the two figures.

"Ahhhh, Yaoki-san wh-why are we doing this again?" He was visibly trembling; Gaara could almost hear his knees knocking together.

"You heard what the council said; this is a reeeaally important mission." The other one wearing the turban type headwear responded in a voice pitched with fear.

"But," His voice lowered to a whisper, "you know what they say about him..." He trailed off at the end of his sentence, imagining all the gruesome deeds the sand demon must have committed.

Gaara decided to make his presence known before the conversation could go any further. He was already having a horrible day and if he had to listen to these two fools talk about him any longer he might end up shedding someone's blood.

Gaara enjoyed the two men's little shrieks of terror when he materialized right in front of them in a flurry of sand. He didn't let his amusement show on his face as he stared at them, one of which had fallen on the ground. He had almost forgotten how good it felt to scare people on a whim. He was trying to change, but he wasn't without his vices.

The one who had fallen to the ground picked himself up under Gaara's stony glare and shared a look with his team mate before smiling nervously.

"H-hello Gaara-sama" He waved his arm awkwardly before dropping it to his side and bowing low instead. "I am Kurobi."

The other one followed his example, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly while introducing himself. "I'm Yaoki, it's nice to meet you."

Gaara didn't answer immediately, assessing his new team mate. While he liked to refer to them as team mate they were really his subordinates, the council had placed him in charge of this three man cell. At first glance the two shinobi were indistinguishable from the multitude of others around Suna. They wore standard issue vest and pants along with the headgear. They also didn't seem to have any special abilities or qualities. Gaara came to the conclusion that the council had sent their least distinguished shinobi to team with him. On the off chance that he killed them, they would have not lost anyone of any specific caliber.

Gaara realized he was intimidating the two men and cleared his throat, making them jump again.

"I am Gaara, I will be leading this team from now on" he said awkwardly in monotone, not sure how to follow up. He let his mind wander again and came to the conclusion that he would have to get some idea of their capabilities.

He turned on his heel, briefly looking over his shoulder, "follow me", were his brief instructions before continuing forward to his destination.

The two chunin glanced at each other before nodding vigorously and jogging to catch up.

For the next couple days Gaara trained with his new team. Kurobi and Yaoki were not the very best shinobi but they were not the worst. Both of then used puppet techniques. Nowhere near the skill of his own brother but in battle against any chunin level opponents it would suffice. In fact, if they were with Gaara they had little to fear in battle besides him.

The two chunin were odd to say the least. They didn't scorn or glare at the young redhead as he had expected, but did more cowering and shaking. Every time he used nay of his sand jutsu he would turn around, only to find them hidden behind a rock or sand dune. They always trotted back out to the open with numerous stammered apologies but it didn't hide the fact that they were scared of him. They were scared of the sand that was soaked in the blood of so many people, shinobi from their very village.

He couldn't blame them but after a few days his patience was waning. These men were supposed to be shinobi, used blood and violence, ready for action. They had no reason to be sniveling like cowards. More than once Gaara had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh in frustration.

Now was one such time, Yaoki was slowly emerging from behind a boulder. He had scampered there after Gaara had demonstrated how to do a certain move.

"S- sorry Gaara-sama," He bowed before straightening back up to look at Gaara for instructions.

Kurobi looked over from where he was throwing kunai and grinned, "Hiding again?" He joked with a big grin. Honestly the man smiled too much.

Yaoki was flustered for a moment before retaliating, "I-I was not, I was practicing evasive maneuvers. Plus, I've seen you run away plenty of times with me!"

He spoke as if he had won the argument, not realizing that he had inadvertently admitted to running away. Gaara let them squabble for a bit before clearing his throat to gain their attention.

"We have a mission in a few days." The council had sent a hawk to inform him earlier that morning. "We are to assist Konoha with bandits running around the borders."

"A mission already? We've only been a team for a few days." Kurobi spoke in a flustered voice, face scrunching in concern.

"They believe we are ready. We have a few days, so we should train harder" both shinobi looked at each other before nodding eagerly.

And so they trained hard. As the days went smoothly so did the wrinkles of mistrust. Kurobi and Yaoki were still scared of Gaara, trembling slightly every time he used his sand but they were also warmer and more accepting than they had been at the beginning. Now that he thought about it, Gaara couldn't recall when they had ever been hostile towards him or shown him any negative emotion. They seemed eager to please most of the time, running to fulfill his every order, even if they did it upon shaking legs.

The morning they were expected to depart from Suna to meet the Konoha team Gaaara decided that he had to make a stop beforehand.

Isakso hadn't seen Gaara in days and the worry was starting to weigh her down. She knew she had done something wrong. She had tried to reassure Gaara that she was ok, that she wasn't scared of him but, she bit her lip in thought, he hadn't been around at all since the other day.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being punished. Her wicked thoughts about wanting the man dead had led her here. They had led to losing her only friend and waking in cold terror every morning. She looked in the mirror of the small bathroom to check the stated of her appearance. The bags under her eyes were evidence of her distress and lack of sleep. If she had been in a better frame of mind she would have laughed at the thought of her looking more like Gaara.

She sighed noisily and glanced at the clock on the wall. She had a half hour to get to work. Tearing her eyes away from the mirror she turned on the faucet and splashed her face with cold water to try and startle her-self awake. Slipping into some baggy clothing Isakso grabbed her keys and made to rush out the door.

As soon as she opened it she came face to face with none other than Gaara. She gasped a little in surprise and gripped her chest. The erratic heartbeat had more to do with the fact that Gaara had come to see her than being scared.

"Why is he here? Does he want to talk about what happened? Why hasn't he been around? Why is he just suddenly showing up?" Her thoughts were jumping from question to question, trying to solve the mystery of his sudden arrival rather than simply asking the young man.

Gaara continued to stare at his questioningly; oh he had asked her a question.

"Sorry what?" she asked meekly, smiling apologetically.

"Are you well?" He asked again, looking at her with more concern. He no doubt had noticed the bags under her eyes and slightly slumped posture.

"I'm fine." She lied, putting on a brighter smile for a believable effect, "I've just had trouble sleeping, nothing to be overly concerned about. What are you doing here?" She asked quickly to change the subject.

Gaara did not believe her for an instant, he was trained to see past lies and deception, but if she didn't want to talk about it he wouldn't force her. She had actually reminded him of his original purpose of coming there.

"I'm leaving on a mission for a few days. I won't be around." He turned his head and looked away from her.

"Oh," That was saddening, "Where too?"

"We are to assist in disbanding some bandits. Konoha called for our assistance." He replied.

"Do you think you'll be able to meet with Uzumaki-san?" Isakso asked, mood brightening considerably at the thought of Gaara being able to meet with the boy who saved him. He had told her all about it and Isakso had almost cried with joy for him. At the begging it was tears of empathy for his suffering but after he related to her all that had transpired her tears were ones of gratitude for Naruto Uzumaki. If he had never reached out to help and understand Gaara, she would have never been saved by the boy trying desperately to change himself.

"I don't know. We were not informed of who we will be working with." He replied. He too had wondered if a meeting with Uzumaki Naruto would be possible.

Isakso reached out to grab his hand, "Well, either way, I'm sure he would be impressed with you and all the changes you have made." She truly smiled at him, not having to communicate that she was proud of him. "When are you leaving?"

"Noon" Gaara was grateful for Isakso's support, it was not something he took for granted in anyway.

"Would you like to walk with me to work? We can catch up on the last few days." She also didn't want the conversation to end. It had been days since they last talked and she honestly missed the redheads company.

The redhead in question dipped in an affirmative nod before his pale hand gestured for her to lead to the way.

Instead she reached forwards and grasped the hand that was gesturing before leading them both down the street. Isakso was aiming for normalcy. After what had happened the last time they had spent time together she wanted to make sure everything was back to normal, to show him she was ok. She felt that the past was better left forgotten and gotten over and she felt much better with Gaara by her side.

"How is training with your team?" She asked, remembering that he had mentioned going to meet them for the first time the other day.

Gaara looked pensive for a moment as if thinking about something difficult to put into words.

"They are interesting." He replied finally, in a tone of voice that suggested confusion.

"That's a good thing right?" She asked looking over.

"I suppose, they are not bad. They do not run away." He said simply. Isakso had to smile at that; it was so simple, not run away.

"That's great Gaara. I hope your mission goes well, you'll be alone with them for a few days so it's crucial for everyone to get along." He nodded in agreement.

They continued to walk in silence for a few minutes. It was cooler than usual in Suna and there was even a small breeze. It was a nice relief from the usual baking heat, even for those used to it. The sun was almost at its highest point and little shade was offered leaving both occupants of the street extra grateful for the mild weather.

A few times during their walk Isakso would think about bringing up what had happened the other day. It seemed like such a long time ago and past its prime as a conversation topic. And if she brought it up then she would have had to reveal why she was actually upset over the events.

She looked down at their connected hands and decided it was better to not mention it first. If Gaara wanted to talk about it then she would, she wouldn't be the one to pop the comfy bubble they had settled back into.

All too soon they were at the shop and it was time to say goodbye.

"Good luck on your mission." Isakso doubted he would need it but a bit of luck never hurt anybody.

Gaara nodded in thanks. He looked at her for a long moment as if wanting to say something. Isakso waited patiently, knowing that he would say it whenever he was ready. Finally he reached forward; pale fingers extended and brushed the area under her eyes.

"Take care of yourself." Then he was gone.

Isakso looked around in wonder for a moment, still unused to his sudden disappearance. She smiled slightly before heading into work in a considerably better mood than she had been when leaving her house only a half hour earlier.

* * *

**I know, i know, hold the applause. I actually managed to create a chapter that wasn't complete sad or depressing! GO ME! So it wasn't exactly fluffy, but it's getting there.**

**Sorry this took so long guys.**

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